Mixed messages: body camera rules.

• Author: Shackford, Scott
• Position: Citings - Body cameras for municipal police officers - Brief article

THE DEPARTMENT of Justice has given a thumbs-up to the idea that municipal police departments should furnish their officers with body cameras. Last year, announcing millions in matching grants to help law enforcement agencies pay for the equipment and training, then-Attorney General Eric Holder said: "Body cameras tend to reduce the number of complaints and are a very useful tool in trying to determine what was the nature of action between someone in the community."

That quote, from a February community meeting in Oakland, California, suggests that federal law enforcement officers would be thrilled to work with their camera-clad municipal counterparts. But in November, a full nine months after Holder praised the technology, The...