Friday, June 22, 2007

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union this week began a program to give free video cameras to some residents of high-crime neighborhoods to help them monitor police misconduct.

The ACLU of Eastern Missouri began working on the project last year after TV crews broadcast video of officers punching and kicking a suspect who led police on a car chase.

“The idea here is to level the playing field, so it’s not just your word against the police’s word,” said Brenda Jones, the chapter’s executive director.

The ACLU has given cameras and training to about 10 residents, whom it declined to name, in north St. Louis, a high-crime, low-income part of the city that members said is plagued by police misconduct. The group hopes to expand the program to 50 to 100 residents.

Police spokesman Richard Wilkes declined to comment when asked how the program might affect police-public relations, saying “we don’t have any opinions or feelings about it one way or another.”

ACLU spokesman Redditt Hudson said the program will also include free workshops to teach residents about their rights when approached by police.

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