U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, center, meets with law enforcement and community leaders for a roundtable discussion at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Monday, Dec. 1, 2014, in Atlanta.Closer to homeChattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher says officers have wanted body cameras for years but struggle to get the money.For his department, he estimates that buying body-mounted cameras would cost about $350,000. Then the department would have to spend more money on computer servers to store the videos that police collected as potential evidence.”I would very much like to have body cameras for every police officer,” Fletcher said. “That comes down to resources to fund it. … Every officer I’ve spoken to wants to have them. I support them. Most executives in my position support them.”
ATLANTA – Speaking at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta – the church where The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. preached – U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was to announce on Monday new Justice Department plans aimed at ending racial profiling and ensuring fair and effective policing.
Holder traveled to Atlanta to meet with law enforcement and community leaders for the first in a series of regional meetings around the country. The president asked Holder to set up the meetings in the wake of clashes between protesters and police in Ferguson, Missouri.
The Associated Press and other news outlets received advance copies of Holder’s speech.
“In the coming days, I will announce updated Justice Department guidance regarding profiling by federal law enforcement, which will institute rigorous new standards – and robust safeguards – to help end racial profiling, once and for all,” the prepared remarks said. “This new guidance will codify our commitment to the very highest standards of fair and effective policing.”