We may never know what happened in Ferguson, Mo., but had there been video cameras, we would have at least a better chance of finding out.
A bill – in the works well before the police shooting of a young man in that town – would create a grant fund for local police departments in Illinois to obtain dashboard cameras and body cameras..
A $6 surcharge would be added to fines for crimes and traffic offenses. The money would be split between that camera fund and the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board, which, sponsoring State Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth (D-Peoria) said, proposed the bill.
“The NAACP has taken the lead in diversifying the police force,” says Gordon-Booth of the state of race relations and police relations in her hometown. “My husband is a counselor at Manual High School, and they have a cadet program now.”
Gordon-Booth says she hopes the bill moves in the post-election veto session.