Despite veto threat, City Council passes police camera bill

The Baltimore City Council on Monday passed two bills in the face of veto threats from Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.
One of them, The Baltimore Sun reports, was a bill requiring Baltimore police to wear body cameras recording all interactions with the public. The council voted overwhelmingly — 13-1 — to approve the measure, the Sun reports.

Council members say residents have repeatedly asked them to have police wear the cameras to cut down on brutality. Councilman Warren Branch, the bill’s lead sponsor, has cited questions surrounding the in-custody death last year of Tyrone West and a recent video showing an officer repeatedly punching a suspect, among other cases, as reasons for the proposed law.

Rawlings-Blake does want body cameras, however. She just wants the cameras implemented differently, with a working group to study legislation further.
City solicitor George Nilson has suggested that the City Council legislation passed Monday violates the city charter by giving direct orders through legislation to police.
The other bill facing a veto threat would ban plastic bags from city stores.

Read the full story in the Baltimore Sun