The Hill reports that today President Obama will propose $263 million in funding to law enforcement to help avoid another disaster like the ongoing mess in Ferguson, Missouri.
According to the report, the proposed three-year funding package contains $75 million to help states purchase new cameras. It's important to note that the funding comes with the caveat of matching funds from the always tenuous coffers of the state governments.
Still, it's an important step towards getting the body cameras that demonstrably help reduce police violence against civilians. Cost is often cited as one of the major obstacles to implementing the technology.
After a federal grand jury failed to indict officer Darren Wilson for killing unarmed teenager Michael Brown last week, Brown's family called for a campaign to outfit all police with body cameras that record their interactions with people.
The rest of the funding will be used "to underwrite police training and outreach programs targeted at building better trust between law enforcement and their communities," according to The Hill.
In addition to the funding, President Obama will issue an executive order that will hopefully help overhaul how and when police get military weapons, which we've seen used against civilians in Ferguson and across the country. Much of the time the presence of this equipment only escalates situations and can lead to more civil unrest than it prevents.
In the order, which will be drafted in the coming months, the president will ask departments to list what equipment they need and why they need it. The order will also ask departments detailed accounting of federal equipment they buy and sell, as well as analysis of how it's used when deployed.
While today's announcement is only the beginning of an overhaul to how policing is done, we can at least be happy that the the executive branch is taking the dissent in the streets seriously. [The Hill via The Verge]
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