MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A forum was held Wednesday afternoon at the University of Memphis to address questions about body cameras.
The forum was hosted by the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office and the Memphis Police Department.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, the forum was the first of it’s kind in Tennessee.
Local attorneys, activist groups and police officers from around the Mid-South attended the event.
They were able to ask questions to a panel made up of Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, District Attorney Amy Weirich, as well as other attorneys and representatives from the Memphis Police Department.
Most of the questions pertained to cost and privacy issues.
Mayor Strickland said the city and tax payers will be in charge of funding MPD’s cameras.
Weirich said she has asked County Commission for money to fund the millions of dollars needed for storage in the footage, but she said she will also be looking at other sources to get money as well.
People at the forum were able to view a sample of dash cam footage.
Dash cameras are currently being used in some MPD cruisers.
The average video has been 15 minutes long.
As far as processing goes officials said one hour worth of video footage takes an hour to redact.
Redacting the video does not mean deleting part of it, but instead it means information like someone giving their social security number will be muted, not erased.
MPD said it is also in the process of hiring a video analyst.
As far as a full list of the policies and procedures being posted somewhere, that’s still being determined.
