A little over four years ago the Rochester City Council approved the purchase of about 50 body worn cameras to be used by officers while in the line of duty.
The cost was about $250,000.
The reasoning behind the use of body worn cameras was to be able to show the public the interactions between police and the public during law enforcement activity.
But it wasn’t the City Council that paid the quarter million for those 50 cameras, it was the residents and taxpayers of Rochester.
And the intended goal of purchasing those cameras was so that police could be totally transparent when it came to confrontations between police and the public, especially when it came to those of a physical nature.
We had such a confrontation on Independence Day last Saturday when a downtown store owner was arrested after police say he sought to incite a riot and became violent as they escorted him to a waiting cruiser to sign a summons for a violations of the city’s fireworks ordinance.
The scene quickly turned ugly as there was reportedly a brief altercation between officers and Robbins Automotive owner Douglas Robbins, a former Rochester mayoral candidate.
In the 13 years we’ve been covering Rochester news, this incident by far has roiled the city more than any other issue we’ve encountered.
It’s time for the citizens of Rochester to get a return on the $250,000 they spent four years ago to equip Rochester’s Finest with those cameras, which are supposed to protect the public and police officers, alike, from unfair accusations.
And to be fully transparent the police should release all the footage from all the body worn cameras of all the officers involved in Robbins’ arrest.
The sooner, the better.
- HT
A New Hampshire Press Association member