“We have said it more than once, but it bears repeating: It shouldn’t have taken George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Manuel Ellis and countless other people of color dying at the hands of police for local government to start laying down new accountability rules on police use of force.

It also should not have taken a national movement like Black Lives Matter to push police and sheriff departments to utilize technology that’s been readily available for years.

When it comes to 21st Century policing, local governments are feeling immense pressure to play catch-up, so forgive us for not doing cartwheels that the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department and Tacoma Police are finally rolling out body-camera programs for deputies and officers early next year.

We can, however, applaud the county for immediately taking the extra step of buying “dash cam” equipment, too.”

Continue reading more from the Editorial Board at The News Tribune.