Police body cameras should be used as often as possible, and the resulting video footage should be made public so long as doing so would not directly impede a law enforcement investigation.

Policies that adopt an approach of broad use and a willingness to share footage will ensure the best outcomes as the Lawrence Police Department prepares to outfit its officers with $500,000 in body cameras.

The department is working on its policies for the cameras now. Questions that need to be answered include when the cameras will be on, how much discretion officers will have in using body cameras and who is entitled to see the resulting footage.

The power of the cameras is in their ability to record a clear account of what transpires in police interactions with the public. Although body cameras are often associated with police-involved shootings, the reality is awareness of the cameras act as a deterrent against meritless complaints against police. A research study involving 2,000 officers in Europe and the United States showed just that: Body cameras reduced complaints against the officers in the study by 93 percent from one year to the next.

Last year, the state of Kansas adopted legislation that defines police camera videos as investigative records, which are exempt from the Kansas Open Records Act. That means police departments have broad discretion in deciding whether to release video footage.

Naturally, that has led to differences in the approaches departments have taken. For instance, after a recent fatal police shooting in Topeka, it took 11 weeks for authorities to share body camera video with the victim’s family. But when police shot a man in Wichita last month in connection with a tragic “swatting” incident, Wichita authorities released footage within hours of the incident.

Although the Lawrence City Commission does not have a role in the police department’s camera policies, city commissioners can and should express their thoughts about how the cameras should be used. Commissioners Lisa Larsen and Jennifer Ananda said the policies should offer clear guidance on using cameras and sharing the resulting footage.

“The less discretion there is, the less dangerous the policy can be,” said Ananda, an attorney and social worker. “The clearer we are about when (footage) would be released, to whom and for what, I think the less likely there are issues of discretionary decisions further down the line.”

In developing its policies regarding cameras, Police Capt. Trent McKinley said the department will seek guidance from federal authorities, consider recently approved state law and also consider public input.

The great benefit of police body cameras is that they build public trust and confidence in police by holding both officers and members of the public with whom they interact accountable for their actions. But that trust can easily be undercut if the cameras are limited in their use and if policies for releasing the footage are overly restrictive.