Earlier this week, the Department of Justice allocated $20 million to help police departments across the country purchase body cameras for their officers. As indicated by deputy chief of operations Joe Gallo, the Champaign Police Department is considering taking the DOJ up on their offer to outfit the city’s officers with the body cameras, which cost anywhere between $800 to $1000 each.
While Gallo points to the advantages of equipping police officers with body cameras—especially in cases where the conduct of an officer is put into question—he also admits there are a number of logistical and technical issues that will need to be worked out before they can be effective. In particular, Gallo voiced concern over the sheer volume of video that would be accrued on a daily basis.
Tom Bruno of the Bruno Law Offices concedes that the use of body cameras for police officers may be an effective tool with which we may confront police misconduct, but contends that there are deeper issues that we still need to confront as a society.
As quoted by The Daily Illini, Bruno asserts that “[t]here have been cases where we wish there might have been a video camera to know the truth better about certain circumstances, like Ferguson, Missouri, so it (is) a compelling argument for body cameras.”
Attorney Tom Bruno at Bruno Law Offices was recently able to secure a favorable sentence for his client, 25-year-old Christina Laney. Laney pleaded guilty to battery at a nursing home. However, because of Bruno’s work, Laney was only sentenced to a year of court supervision. If she successfully completes this year of supervision, the conviction can be erased from her record. You can read more about this case by clicking here.
According to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and an article published by NBC News on January 30, the number of children who are abused in schools by teachers, administrators, and other school employees may actually be much greater than statistics show. The GAO states that this is likely due to improper reporting of alleged or suspected abuse, in addition to a confusing reporting system that typically involves the school, law enforcement agencies, and other state agencies.
Some of the main issues that the report raised included people not knowing who to report suspected abuse to and schools not knowing what agencies or other parties to report the abuse to. According to Rep. George Miller, who requested the report be done, a major part of this problem lies in states that report abuse from agency to agency rather than to law enforcement agencies.
Included in the GAO’s report was a mention of a sexual abuse case from 2008 in which one teacher was reported for sexual abuse, but allowed to work at several schools before being investigated and charged. Through NBC News’ investigations, it was discovered that the case was one in which attorney Tom Bruno of the Bruno Law Offices represented three families of girls who had been abused against the school districts.
To read more about the report, read NBC News’ story here.
