The idea of requiring police to wear body cameras has been a hot topic after the protests in Ferguson, Missouri. On Friday, a group of Illinois lawmakers will take up the issue.Brian Mackey reports on how lawmakers are approaching the issue of police body cameras in Illinois.
Advocates of body cameras say they can clear up the muddle of facts that often accompany police shootings, like the one in Ferguson. They also say police will be on better behavior if they know they're being watched.
Law enforcement elsewhere has jumped in, but Illinois' law on recording was struck down in court earlier this year. Democratic state Rep. Elaine Nekritz, of Northbrook, says that leaves a lot of open questions about privacy — both for police and the citizens who would be recorded.
"Where is that data stored?" she asks. "How much of it is kept (and) for how long? And then who has access to it? Does the media have access to every interaction?"
There's also the question of whether police should notify everyone they talk to that they're on camera.
Nekritz says lawmakers are still in the early stages of debating the issue.
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