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Advocates for prison reform in Alabama are renewing a push to institute mandatory body cams for correctional officers at state prisons.
Mitera Arktos, Greek for “mother bear,” is a nonprofit organization formed by family members of incarcerated Alabamians. The organization is engaged in prison reform advocacy, including a campaign started earlier this year which looks to mandate the wearing and use of traditional police body-worn cameras by state correctional officers.
“Due to an unprecedented number of mysterious deaths, murders, overdoses, rapes, and an all-time high of drug trafficking, we demand that prison guards wear body cams,” the petition reads. “Implementing body cameras on all prison officers can be a significant step towards transparency and accountability within our prisons. This initiative is in response to numerous high-profile incidents involving alleged prison personnel misconduct.”
In particular, the Mitera Arktos petition calls on the Alabama State Legislature to “mandate body cameras for all prison officers as an essential measure toward ensuring safety and justice within our prisons.”
One member of the organization told APR that they choose to pursue their advocacy anonymously in order to protect their incarcerated relatives from potential retributive violence from correctional officers.
According to the National Institute of Justice, the use of body-worn cameras among traditional police forces has shown mixed results when implemented to “improve officer safety, increase evidence quality, reduce civilian complaints, and reduce agency liability.” However, the NIJ also notes that body cams may be uniquely effective in correctional settings, citing one particular research trial which showed a significant reduction in the use of force against inmates by correctional officers who were outfitted with body-worn cameras.
Prison reform has been a long-time concern in Alabama, with the Department of Justice suing the state in 2020 over the conditions found in Alabama’s prisons.
Some Alabama lawmakers, like State Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, have been vocal about the need for prison reform in the state. In September, England sponsored HB40, a bill designed to reform Alabama’s Board of Pardons and Parole which has been criticized for contributing to excessive overcrowding in the state’s prison system. A previous version of England’s bill failed to gain traction in the face of opposition from Attorney General Steve Marshall.
The Mitera Arktos petition to mandate body-worn cameras among correctional officers was started in April of this year and has amassed 574 signatures as of this writing.
