For years people have been asking for law enforcement to wear body cameras as a way of transparency for the public and for officers themselves. That conversation is heating up for the law enforcement agencies that still don't have them.
"Pictures don't lie, pictures don't lie," said Gaylor Spiller, president of the NAACP in Jefferson Parish.
Spiller is one of the leaders in her community pushing JPSO to wear body cameras.
More than half of Sheriff's departments in Louisiana have body cameras and 42 percent do not according to a 2019 survey. That includes Jefferson Parish and St. Tammany Parish.
"Body cameras are something I've never been opposed to," JPSO Sheriff Joe Lopinto said.
Tuesday, Lopinto discussed the struggle to afford body cameras because of how much storage the footage would require.
"Smaller agencies can fit some of this stuff on a laptop. I can't. It costs way too much money," Sheriff Lopinto said.
House Resolution 9 would push JPSO to adopt policies to wear body cameras.
"The urging request now is to continue to talk, continue working toward that goal of getting there," Rep. Rodney Lyons (D) said.
While the resolution can't enforce policies, Lyons who sponsors the resolution said it sends a message, especially as it passed unanimously in the House Tuesday.
"HR9 does nothing, let's face it," Sheriff Lopinto said.
"I want the community to know their voice is heard, the body hear expressed that today," Lyons said.
The discussion about body cameras is happening on the Northshore too. St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Randy Smith recently said he's committed to getting body cameras. STPSO has been testing and reviewing them. The system would cost $1 million.
"I am making it a priority no matter where we have to divert funds from," Sheriff Smith said.
New Orleans police officers have been wearing body cameras since 2014.