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Questions Remain In Kentucky Over Use of Body Cameras by Police

As more Kentucky cities look into putting body cameras on police officers, many questions still remain about how to run the programs.

Corbin is the latest city to start a pilot program for police body cameras. At least 11 other cities have already implemented some sort of program. And police departments are still trying to figure out a few things: when the officer should turn the camera on, how to store footage, and who has access to it.

That last part is of particular concern to those who end up in the videos, says Kate Miller with the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, “The idea of that sort of footage being collected and stored particularly if it’s stored indefinitely is concerning to the ACLU and of course you know a video doesn’t tell the full story necessarily,” Miller said.

Lexington has had a pilot program in place since before the beginning of this year and Mayor Jim Gray has proposed $600,000 in next year’s budget for body cameras.

Louisville is expected to start a pilot program this summer.

Ryland Barton is the Managing Editor for Collaboratives. He's covered politics and state government for NPR member stations KWBU in Waco and KUT in Austin. He has a bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Texas. He grew up in Lexington.

Email Ryland at rbarton@lpm.org.