A Chicago Democrat says he hopes a new state law will prevent the very situation that’s playing out over the death of a 17-year-old killed by a Chicago police officer.
The new law sets standards for officers who wear body cameras.
State representative Elgie Sims says it’s significant, given the release of a police dashboard video of the shooting death of Laquan McDonald.
“It only reinforces what we did,” Sims said.
Sims says people have questioned the timing of criminal charges brought against the officer who killed McDonald -- and body cameras would help inspire confidence in law enforcement.
“We were trying to make sure that you could put sunshine on those issues and make sure that there was never talk of a conspiracy or coverup or any of those kinds of things,” Sims said.
Some Chicago police are already using body cameras under a pilot program.
