Photo via Vievu.
Photo via Vievu.

President Obama called for millions of dollars in funding to support the roll-out of body cameras for police officers across America today, as part of a package targeted at transforming America’s police forces.

The new plan calls for $75 million in funding over 3 years that could provide up to 50 percent of the funding for a local police department’s body camera and video storage program. It’s a move designed to help police departments maintain credibility with their constituents by maintaining a video record of officers’ interactions that can be used as evidence.

While the splashy budget figure is a big deal, actually rolling out body cameras in certain municipalities may prove more problematic. An anonymous Seattle man has been requesting video records from departments all around Washington and posting those videos to YouTube in an attempt to prove a point about potential privacy issues with body cameras.

Some municipalities have shut down their body camera programs rather than face complying with his requests, and that same problem could be replicated in other parts of the country with similar records laws.

In addition to the camera funding, the President’s plan also calls for more regulations on the distribution of paramilitary equipment like armored trucks to police departments.

The President’s action comes after a grand jury did not indict Darren Wilson, a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., who shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, earlier this year. Brown’s killing kicked off months of civil unrest in Ferguson, which saw the town’s police department deploy armored trucks and tear gas in an attempt to quell protests.

Of course, all of this is still contingent on funding from Congress. That may be the greatest hurdle for the President’s plan, since the Republican party will have control over both the House of Representatives and the Senate once the class of legislators elected in this year’s midterm elections take power.

Federal funding for body cameras could be good news for Seattle-based Vievu, which is one of the companies building devices designed for use by law enforcement; as well as Taser.com’s Seattle-based Evidence.com unit, which makes a cloud-based system and body cameras for use by law enforcement.

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