Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen says body cameras for police would clear officers in most cases where they are accused of excessive force, but he doesn’t think the money to equip cops with the cameras would be the best use of taxpayer dollars. Credit: Scott Bauer

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Madison — Body cameras would almost always vindicate police officers accused of using excessive force, but despite that benefit, taxpayers' money would be better spent elsewhere, state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said Thursday.

"If we had untold amounts of money, it would be great. I think you will find the more we have cameras on squad cars and bodies, the fewer accusations would come up," Van Hollen said of the cameras that could record videos of what happened before an officer used force.

Prompted by high-profile cases and protests over incidents in other states, President Barack Obama has called for spending $75 million in federal money to help pay for 50,000 of the lapel-mounted cameras to record police on the job, with state and local taxpayers picking up half the cost.

The attorney general addressed the issue in his final year-end interview as he finishes his second term — eight years in all — as the state's top attorney and law enforcement officer.

Attorney General-elect Brad Schimel, a fellow Republican, will replace Van Hollen in January.

In the interview in Van Hollen's Capitol office, the 48-year-old attorney general downplayed the possibility of running for a new office in the near future. Instead, he acknowledged that he is considering jobs in which he would work with the top lawyers in the other 49 states.

"It's one of the areas I'm exploring, no doubt about that," he said. "It's one of the areas where I certainly have the experience and competence. I think there's a demand for people who understand the (attorney general) community and how we function. ... People in all walks of life, including elected officials and members of the media, have a lack of understanding of the appropriate roles of an attorney general. ... So I think corporate America and other potential clients out there have a similar desire for guidance."

Van Hollen said he had been approached about job prospects but had to put off having those discussions in earnest until after leaving office — to prevent running into any ethical problems. He didn't rule out running for another elected office such as the state Supreme Court but downplayed the chances of that happening soon, saying he wanted to spend more time with his children while they were still in school.

On the value of putting cameras on police, the attorney general said he wasn't convinced.

"I think body cameras would vindicate a lot of officers and solve a lot of problems," he said. "I just don't know how much money you spend to make people feel comfortable when that money could be spent elsewhere. ... That same $70 million could probably be spent to prevent, I don't know, thousands of kids from being sexually assaulted. Where should we spend that money?"

In the current state budget, Van Hollen persuaded lawmakers and Gov. Scott Walker to put more money into the Internet Crimes against Children task force within the state Department of Justice. They set aside an additional $770,000 over two years to add five positions to the program, a longtime priority for Van Hollen that works with local police to track down sex offenders who are lurking online.

In the announcement this month, Obama unveiled a task force to find ways the government can support accountability and trust in police. The president said he was troubled by stories of young people who said they obeyed the law but felt pushed aside by those in charge of enforcing it.

"It violates my belief in what America can be to hear young people feeling marginalized and distrustful even after they've done everything right," Obama said then.

For his part, Van Hollen stressed that he believed the great majority of law enforcement made good decisions in bad circumstances, even when it puts their own safety at risk. He acknowledged that some of those officers might be saved from public censure by body cameras but said that had to be weighed against other opportunities to protect the vulnerable.

"I think you'd find an awful lot of law enforcement who'd say, 'You know what? I'll pass up that insurance policy to help protect our kids.' It'd be an interesting debate," Van Hollen said.