We trust Northeast Michigan police, and have no reason not to.

Still, we’re happy to see troopers at the Michigan State Police-Alpena Post have been outfitted with body cams.

We live in a world where trust in law enforcement — as with many other institutions — is at an all-time low, partly because of legitimate news reports of bad-acting police officers around the country, including many involved in questionable or outright wrong police killings.

Cameras provide an extra layer of accountability for police officers by providing more transparency to their actions.

That extra accountability should help restore some trust in law enforcement, especially since 1st Lt. John Grimshaw, commander of the Alpena Post, told News staff writer Julie Riddle for a recent story that police would voluntarily release some video to help disprove rumors or show what really happened in police encounters.

If officers act responsibly — as we expect Alpena Post troopers would — the video will show the public that’s happening. If officers act irresponsibly, that should be captured, too, which could help any disciplinary proceedings.

As Grimshaw told Riddle, the cameras don’t capture everything an officer experiences on the road. Officers won’t turn on the cameras unless engaged in law enforcement activity (they automatically turn on when officers engage the sirens on their squad cars). And the cameras only see what they can see in a 130-degree recording space in front of them, so they can’t pick up what happens behind an officer or too far to the side of an officer. The cameras also could be obstructed.

Still, we’re about to see more than we have, and we’re glad for it.

— Alpena News