PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island is asking city councilors to reject a proposal to purchase police body cameras until “strong strong standards of transparency and accountability” are in place, the group said in a news release.

In a letter sent to the council last week, Steven Brown, the executive director of the ACLU of Rhode Island, noted the potential benefits of body cameras with proper policy. However, the Providence police, he wrote, have not provided clear enough rules for public access to footage.

“The PPD’s current policy would allow the public to be kept in the dark if a troubling incident of police misuse of force were to be captured on these cameras,” Brown wrote in the letter. “The policy also, in our opinion, is not sufficiently precise in making sure that encounters will be captured on tape from beginning to end.”

In September, Chief Hugh T. Clements Jr. announced that all 250 uniformed officers will wear body cameras, partially financed by a $375,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice. The city would need to match this federal funding to support the program until Sept. 30, 2018, Clements said.

Police are to activate the cameras during:

All encounters where there is reasonable suspicion that someone is or may be involved in criminal activity. All encounters where there is reason to believe a person is committing a violation that may result in a summons. All traffic stops and pursuits. All arrests or attempts to take someone into custody. All incidents involving use of force, as soon as practicable. Any public interaction that escalates and becomes adversarial. All searches of buildings.

Videos used during arrests or criminal cases would be considered evidence made public when used during trial. People in the videos could view the tape. Other videos would be released on a case-by-case basis in compliance with the state’s Access to Public Records Act, Clements said in the September interview.

Michaela Antunes, the press secretary for the council, did not immediately return a phone call requesting comment Monday afternoon.

jtempera@providencejournal.com 401-277-7121 On Twitter: @jacktemp