SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — State Senator Doris Turner has introduced a bill that would mandate body cams and dashboard cams for EMS workers.
SB1306 would require "all EMS personnel to be equipped by their employers with body cameras that record the interactions of those personnel with patients, emergency responders, and members of the public during service calls."
The bill comes in the wake of the killing of Earl Moore Jr., a Springfield man who died after EMS workers responding to a call strapped him facedown on a gurney. An autopsy found that Moore died of compressional and positional asphyxia due to prone facedown restraint on a paramedic transpiration stretcher due to tightened straps across the back.
"None of that interaction would have come to light had it not been caught on the police body cameras," said Senator Turner. "As you can imagine, there would be a lot of questions and a lot of conflicting statements. But because we do have that body camera footage, we have a pretty accurate depiction of what happened. So we have seen that those body cameras that police wear have been very effectual, and have been very beneficial for not only the police department, but also for the community."
The service call was caught on the bodyworn cameras of Springfield Police Officers. In one of the videos released, an EMS worker is shown verbally berating Moore Jr.
"Sit up! I am not playing with you tonight. You're gonna have to walk cause we ain't carrying you. I'm serious we're not in the mood for this dumb shit," said EMS worker, Peggy Finley.Â
Both workers have been charged with first-degree murder.
Without the camera footage provided by the Springfield Police Department, much of the incident would not have been recorded.
"Going forward, it will provide us with a real opportunity for some additional training, and for us to be able to see how these situations are playing out in real life," said Senator Turner. "To be quite honest, I think that it may be an opportunity to not have a replay of what happened in in Mr. Moore's situation."
Turner's bill has a provision that would not allow the footage to be requested via the Freedom of Information Act unless being requested by "the person who made the service call or that person's attorney or personal representative or a law enforcement official."
Funding for the cameras and video storage is not included in the bill, but Senator Turner told WAND it might be added at a different date. She said the community should see the benefits of adding the cameras instead of the costs.
"We don't want to put any business or municipality in a position where this is an undue burden on them financially," said Senator Tuner. "However, I think that we always have to weigh public safety against the the associated costs that go along with that."
The bill has been referred to assignments.
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