Our Say: Body cameras and civilian review boards are overdue for Annapolis and Anne Arundel police

It took a tragedy halfway across the country to propel Anne Arundel County into a decision to buy police body cameras now.

It took marchers filling the street to get Annapolis, which already has body cameras, to establish a civilian review board for its police department.

There seems to be almost universal acceptance now that the use of force, even when it is justified, is a weapon that threatens not only physical harm but damage to the credibility of our institutions and our belief in justice for all. Nationally, it is disproportionately used against people of color.

We’re just not sure why it took so long to get here, or why George Floyd had to die at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis before we did.

Body cameras for the Anne Arundel County Police Department are likely to be added to the budget up for approval later this month. After days of protests and unrest across the country, County Executive Steuart Pittman is scrambling to cover the $4 million cost.

Those protests have reached Annapolis, where two days of the peaceful demonstration have shown just how wide the support for greater police oversight of police has become. They have reached Crofton, where the community’s three-member police force kneeled Tuesday in support of 300 peaceful marchers.

Wednesday night it reached the county police headquarters building in Millersville, where a group of white activists was expected to show their support for a stronger review of police.

Support for body cameras at the county level included a bold statement from the County Council’s three Republicans, Amanda Fiedler, Jessica Haire and Nathan Volke. The council has the power to cut the budget and move money around to support expenses with a majority vote. Republicans are likely to find support for such a move among the Democratic majority.

And support for this has come from the African-American community, where leaders of the local NAACP, the Caucus of African American Leaders, the Anne Arundel County Chapter of the Continental Societies Inc., the Anne Arundel County Chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, the United Black Clergy, Connecting the Dots, Citizens Actively Seeking Transparency, and the Arundel Bay Area Chapter of Jack and Jill of America Inc. called on the executive to fund the budget.

“We know that body cameras are not the panacea; they will not solve the problems that we face in this country,” said Carl Snowden, a longtime civil rights activist and leader of the caucus. “But what body cameras have proven to be is an unblinking eye that will tell a story that is not based on people’s perspective of what happened.”

Previous administrations have pushed back against body cameras, prioritizing other investments in good policing. Pittman, citing the drop in revenue tied to the coronavirus-induced economic collapse, deferred to efforts to come up with a statewide program.

It was the wrong decision.

Now that he has been shown the correct path, the executive should take his next cue from Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley.

Buckley told the crowd of some 1,000 protesters on Tuesday that city Police Chief Ed Jackson would be announcing details of a citizen review board this week. He was blunt about the reasons

“Everyone knows this has been happening a long time,” Buckley said of racial injustice within the city, “but I want everyone to take their phones out because the difference now is we’re filming this. Because now there’s evidence.”

Like it has for body cameras, the county has pushed back on the notion of a civilian review board for its actions. Current Police Chief Tim Altomare has done an able job of rooting out poor behavior among his officers and has been a refreshing voice of candor in discussions with the public.

Previous chiefs have been less able and transparent.

It is time for the Pittman administration to push forward not only with a last-minute body camera program but also a civilian review of its police department.