“Thanks, but no thanks.”
So says Michigan State Representative Tom McMillin to President Barack Obama.
In response to the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and its aftermath, and then the non-indictment of the officer involved, and its aftermath, President Obama requested that Congress fund a new $263 million Justice Department spending package. Part of the spending, a total of $75 million, would put federal dollars toward outfitting 50,000 local policemen with body cameras.
Rep. Tom McMillin, a Rochester Hills Republican, has introduced House Bill 5970 to require all gun-toting state and local police in Michigan to wear body cameras. The legislation would mandate that video footage be destroyed within weeks except in cases where police use force, make an arrest, a complaint is filed or a request is made by a citizen.
McMillin thanks Obama for supporting the idea of body cameras, but the state rep argues that “providing body cameras to state and local police officers in Michigan isn’t a proper role of the federal government,” adding: “We could figure out how to pay for it here in Michigan.”
“Frankly, the feds have put me and my kids in enough debt,” he says, “I wouldn’t want them adding to it.”
Great point. Plus, the federal government really doesn’t have to pay for every single thing that happens in this world.
I’ve advocated the cameras, calling them “justice vision.” Where tried, the video system has served to protect citizens and police and improve public confidence.
But doing the right thing in our hometowns doesn’t require a Washington bribe.
That’s Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.