A long back-and-forth between protesters and St. Louis’ Board of Estimate and Appointment ended in a successful agreement to bring body cameras to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
The proposal was brought to the board by Lewis Reed, the president of the Board of Aldermen. As Reed read the proposal and other board members began to ask questions, a large group of activists gathered in the room – the meeting drew a standing-room-only crowd – began to talk back.
“We’re tired of sitting,” a voice in the crowd said.
“They don’t protect us,” another said.
“Take care of the business now,” a third said.
St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson began to question Reed about the cost of the contract, which had been provided to the other members of the board earlier that day. The year-long pilot program contract is with Axon, the company formerly known as Taser. The company has a program which gives police departments free body cameras and unlimited cloud services to manage video evidence. After that, the cameras would each cost $1,000.
In response to Krewson questions, another protester called back with, “No amount of human life.”
“I agree with that,” Krewson said.
As protesters called on Comptroller Darlene Green to speak up, she too questioned the logic of accepting the contract with Axon.
It became clear there was a conflict between Green and Reed, who are both black, about how to handle the issue of body cameras. Reed wanted to move ahead with the proposal immediately, saying previous attempts to put off the issue had resulted in inaction. Green said the board had not been given enough time to consider and negotiate the contract.
“I don’t like that any time we have an issue regarding our people, you grandstand,” Green said, addressing Reed.
“Any time you stand up for your people, they call it grandstanding,” he said.
In 2015, Green was the member of the Board of Estimate and Appointments who spoke out in favor of body cameras. Reed, along with then-Mayor Francis G. Slay, raised a number of questions about how a body camera program would be implemented, including how it would be funded and how the city would negotiate with police unions.
St. Louis did not adopt body cameras at that time, and still has not. This makes it the exception to the rule; 95 percent of large police departments nationwide either have already implemented body camera programs or are in the process.
Green, who has long argued for them, found herself on the other side of the issue.
“We need body cameras,” Green said. “We need police in this room right now.”
She was met with a chorus of, “No, we don’t!”
Constituents in the audience called upon Green to set those concerns aside and vote for Reed’s proposal, which allows the city to return the cameras with no further commitment after 30 days if they do not want to continue.
“Show all these white people that we’re black and we can stand together,” one man in the audience said.
Protesters focused their pressure on Green and on the mayor, with some starting a chant of “Lyda Krewson, vote yes.”
The contentious conversation between the members of the board and the many gathered observers continued for about an hour and a half, and it was difficult for anyone to finish an unbroken thought. Krewson said Reed was speaking over her and Green rather than allowing them to participate in a meaningful conversation.
“I don’t understand why that is a productive way to conduct business with your two colleagues, who both want the same things you do,” Krewson said.
Ultimately, though, Reed, Green and Krewson were able to make an agreement. They voted to adopt the agreement with Axon and to reach a more permanent solution, allocating a yearly line item in the city’s budget for body cameras, by the end of the year. The motion passed with three votes in favor.Â
