In 2005, the counties of Devon and Cornwall in the United Kingdom implemented a six month pilot program. The program was the implementation of body worn cameras for police officers and has set a precedent for law enforcement agencies all over the globe.

Later, in 2012, the small department of Rialto here in California implemented a random implementation experiment by distributing BWCs randomly to 70 of their police officers seeing a drop in complaints against them.

Last semester, students were made aware of the fact that Mt. SAC and by extension, Police and Campus safety, were looking into the potential procurement of AR-15s for use on campus in the event of an emergency. Met with heavy backlash from faculty, staff and students alike, it seems like they have decided to look into alternatives and determine if purchasing the ArmaLite style rifles would be the correct choice for the campus.

However, that begs the question. What are those alternatives? What could possibly replace the need for those weapons?

Tasers and body worn cameras. You read that right. Tasers and body worn cameras are the alternatives to buying AR-15s for the Police and Campus safety. Surveillance, accountability and less lethal alternatives were thought of second to rifles.

But if they were thought of as alternatives to the rifles, that can only mean one thing. Police and Campus safety do not have access to these tools currently. Tools that are standard issue equipment for law enforcement agencies nationwide are missing from our campus and that is ridiculous.

As mentioned earlier, body worn cameras were first introduced in the United Kingdom according to this article written by Axon. Axon (Formerly Taser International) has been one of the leading companies developing body camera systems for law enforcement, with their technology being widely adopted all over the country.

One particular department that has adopted the Axon BWC system is the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office. In 2020, former LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva contracted with Axon to outfit over 5000 deputies with body cams. That’s the thing though. The law enforcement agency that services the Walnut area is the LA County Sheriff’s Department. Despite there being a proposal for BWCS for police and campus safety, three years ago, the college has done nothing to provide this equipment for our officers even though just five minutes down the street are officers with these cameras.

A report from the Los Angeles County Office of Inspector General, published in September, details that the department currently has 4450 systems deployed with their Community Colleges Bureau, in particular recently becoming fully outfitted with Axon BWCs.

While the Community Colleges Bureau is a subsection of the LA County Sheriff’s Department and are contracted by the colleges to patrol and serve their communities, other colleges that are similar to Mt.SAC, such as Chaffey Community College and Riverside Community College, have implemented BWC systems for their campus police. However, Cal Poly Pomona, a university just down the street, currently outfits their officers with BWC systems. If interested, their BWC policy can be found here on page 269.

Although it is important to mention that Citrus College, the community college that is closest to us currently also does not have BWCs for their campus safety program.

With this next section, please take the numbers used with a grain of salt. Axon doesn’t publish the pricing for their systems anywhere and you have to personally contact them to get a pricing contract. While the AR-15 prices are from the campus itself, I would expect them to be subject to change.

While the implementation of Axon systems would still cost a significant amount for Mt. SAC, with Coherent Market Insights listing the price for a single Axon Body 4 unit at $513.04 before other accessories and cloud storage for the video, the cost of the rifles the campus are looking to purchase, are far, far more.

Breaking down the numbers here, for a one time purchase of each rifle would amount to a total initial cost of $5450, with a cost of $1250 recurring per rifle each year. While there are likely other costs associated with implementation that are not listed in the above document, A single rifle would still cost more than the implementation of a single BWC, additional equipment and all.

The other honorable mention here are the tasers that Mt. SAC and Police and Campus Safety are looking into purchasing. While it’s unknown what models are likely to be purchased by the school, tasers are considered to be less lethal alternatives to firearms because there is still a risk of death when they’re involved.

With an effective range of zero to 25 feet, the X26P model of taser is the most commonly adopted taser in the United States and one of the three models the LA county sheriffs department uses. However, due to its more dated model compared to newer, safer models, many law enforcement agencies are upgrading to the taser 7.

While it can’t serve as a replacement for the potential purchase of rifles, the option of a taser would give officers far more versatility in the field.

This isn’t to say I don’t think we should have rifles, I want to make that clear. The purpose of this piece isn’t to criticize the decision to pursue having the weapons on campus in the first place. However, the appalling lack of accountability that our sworn officers currently have cannot continue to stand.

Despite the money the campus continues to hemorrhage each year, they continue to develop infrastructure in the interest of keeping campus safe. With 100 cameras in building 26, the new police substation on the first floor of the student center, new lighting they’ve added to places on campus and plans to add better lighting to the parking lots, there are many things being done to hold students accountable.

However time and time again, we as a nation have watched what happens when the police aren’t held accountable. Growing distrust between the common citizen and law enforcement has become so commonplace that it’s hard for law enforcement to do their jobs.

So, as President Dr. Martha Garcia continues to preach about a culture of transparency and open communication with the events of the last two presidents forums and the uproar from the student body that followed still fresh in our minds, the question remains.

Are they going to make sure our police officers are held accountable with or without the AR-15s? Or will the lack of body cameras shatter that transparent glass and leave shards of doubt in its wake?