Republican candidates were asked for the first time Thursday night about criminal justice reform, although it fell to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., to answer the questions on behalf of the group.
Mark Watson, an Army veteran who is popular on YouTube, asked the GOP candidates Thursday night about police accountability, and specifically, a law requiring offers to wear body cameras.
“As an African-American living near Ferguson, I’ve seen the strain between police officers and the communities they serve firsthand,” Watson said. “Now, there are great tools like body cameras to protect both officers and citizens, but we all currently have better cameras in our pockets than in our precincts. Why aren’t we using the technology available to better protect our communities?”
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was asked by the debate moderates to answer the question.
“You know, I’ve supported legislation to allow body cameras. I’ve been to Ferguson, I’ve been trying to look for solutions to our criminal justice problem,” Paul responded, before going on to talk about the war on drugs and how it has “disproportionally affected” the African-American community.
“Drug use is about equal between white and black, but our prisons — three out of four people in prison are black or brown. I think something has to change. I think it’s a big thing that our party needs to be part of, and I’ve been a leader in Congress on trying to bring about criminal justice reform,” Paul remarked to applause.
The television then cut away to commercial, and no other of the candidates on stage were able to bring up police-worn body cameras or criminal justice reform.
Early last year, Paul introduced legislation that bolsters the use of body-worn police cameras by creating a pilot program to help local and state government acquire the technology. The use of body-worn cameras is one of 10 policy platforms supported by Campaign Zero, which is an effort backed by Black Lives Matter activists.
Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders have aggressively campaigned on racial issues and criminal justice reform, especially in efforts to court the minority vote. Whether or not Republican candidates follow this lead is to be determined.
