The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island is once again urging Providence and Newport Police departments to update their body camera policies.
The two municipalities have recently outfitted some officers with the cameras. The cameras are meant to record police interactions with civilians.
The ACLU supports the use of body cameras, saying they can increase police transparency.
However, ACLU of Rhode Island head Steve Brown, says the body cam policy is still too narrow, and only makes officers record their interactions if there is criminal suspicion.
This push is following the police shooting of an unarmed Australian woman in Minneapolis earlier this month, of which there is no video evidence, and many questions left unanswered.
“In light of the tragedy that occurred in Minneapolis where an Australian woman was killed by police and the police failed to have their body cameras on,” Brown Said. “So there are a lot of questions about what happened, this the same scenario could occur in these two communities because of the policies that don’t make clear when the cameras should be turned on.”
The ACLU wants the Providence and Newport police departments to broaden the policy so any interaction between an officer and a civilian would be recorded.
