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Maybe cops aren’t the problem
Police body cameras: Money for nothing?
Posted from foxnews.com
Police
Police Officer
Blue Lives Matter
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 10
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Body camera's are desperately needed. It protects the police an shows the judge's what really happen. This article focus on how police do not act differently and how the number of complaints about cops has not changed. These Body Camera's are necessary equipment for LEO's.
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Great investment. If cops are as dirty as claimed, we get evidence. (or at least a trail of conveniently "missing" footage. If the claims are made up, the cops get exonerated and their reputations restored.
It moves the discussion from "who are you going to believe, Noble Cop (fascist thug) vs lying criminal (aggrieved citizen going about their peaceful business)?" to "What does the evidence show?" I think the latter conversation is much more healthy for our republic.
Also, 18 months is too short a time to draw meaningful results. Given the nature of our 'justice' system, contentious situations can easily take 2-4 years to work their way through the courts and to a final determination. I would expect that you would need quite a few high profile decisions where body cameras made a decisive impact before law enforcement culture (and/or a culture of false claims) was significantly impacted.
It moves the discussion from "who are you going to believe, Noble Cop (fascist thug) vs lying criminal (aggrieved citizen going about their peaceful business)?" to "What does the evidence show?" I think the latter conversation is much more healthy for our republic.
Also, 18 months is too short a time to draw meaningful results. Given the nature of our 'justice' system, contentious situations can easily take 2-4 years to work their way through the courts and to a final determination. I would expect that you would need quite a few high profile decisions where body cameras made a decisive impact before law enforcement culture (and/or a culture of false claims) was significantly impacted.
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MSG (Join to see)
While there are bad police officers, they are a very small minority. In every profession, you will find some bad apples. Of all the professions, police officers are one of the most highly scrutinized. As a result, Police misconduct is often publicized more often than with other professions. Even the term misconduct or discipline is often misconstrued when it comes to the media reporting of Police. Misconduct is supposed to mean criminal behavior while discipline can be a failure to follow a General Order or Standard operating procedure (i.e. failure to wear the assigned hat while outside).
I have 31 years in law enforcement at the city, county, and state level. I had a camera in my car over 20 years ago and wore a mike with one of my previous agencies. I don't have a problem with the idea of officers wearing body cameras, i do have a problem with people tending to believe if the camera didn't record something, the video or audio was off, etc that it automatically means the officer was hiding something or it didn't happen.
Things to know about body cameras.
1) the camera isn't facing the officer, it is facing outwards and only one direction meaning it is capturing the public and their actions. It is not 360 degrees. it does not see what the officer sees if he is standing still and moving only his head to look to the side, behind him, etc. If the officer is sitting in his vehicle and observes a car run a stop sign, chances are the camaera is only going to pick up the steering wheel.
2) the audio is only capturing what is close to it. It may or may not pick up something said from behind or a short distance away.
3) most States have privacy rights that apply to the Officers as well. A camera can not be operated in a public or private area where there is an expectation of privacy if a crime has not been committed. This means that if an officer goes to a residence or in a bathroom, he may be required to turn the camera off.
4) In many cases such as I cited above, agencies have policies where the camera is only turned on if investigating a crime, traffic stop, investigations, etc. This means many times the camera is not originally on. In the event something suddenly happens, such as the officer gets attacked, they may forget to turn on the camera. It is a common event. You focus on the immediate danger or event and forget something like switching on a mike or camera. I have done that many times. When I am being punched or wrestling with someone, my thought is tactics, survival, etc. Far down there is turning on a switch.
5) As I have previously posted, the issue is not the police. The proof is when you remove all police from an area, particularly a large city, crime does not go down. It increases dramatically.
I have 31 years in law enforcement at the city, county, and state level. I had a camera in my car over 20 years ago and wore a mike with one of my previous agencies. I don't have a problem with the idea of officers wearing body cameras, i do have a problem with people tending to believe if the camera didn't record something, the video or audio was off, etc that it automatically means the officer was hiding something or it didn't happen.
Things to know about body cameras.
1) the camera isn't facing the officer, it is facing outwards and only one direction meaning it is capturing the public and their actions. It is not 360 degrees. it does not see what the officer sees if he is standing still and moving only his head to look to the side, behind him, etc. If the officer is sitting in his vehicle and observes a car run a stop sign, chances are the camaera is only going to pick up the steering wheel.
2) the audio is only capturing what is close to it. It may or may not pick up something said from behind or a short distance away.
3) most States have privacy rights that apply to the Officers as well. A camera can not be operated in a public or private area where there is an expectation of privacy if a crime has not been committed. This means that if an officer goes to a residence or in a bathroom, he may be required to turn the camera off.
4) In many cases such as I cited above, agencies have policies where the camera is only turned on if investigating a crime, traffic stop, investigations, etc. This means many times the camera is not originally on. In the event something suddenly happens, such as the officer gets attacked, they may forget to turn on the camera. It is a common event. You focus on the immediate danger or event and forget something like switching on a mike or camera. I have done that many times. When I am being punched or wrestling with someone, my thought is tactics, survival, etc. Far down there is turning on a switch.
5) As I have previously posted, the issue is not the police. The proof is when you remove all police from an area, particularly a large city, crime does not go down. It increases dramatically.
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The problem isn't the police and never has been. If you want simple proof, remove all police from an area, particularly a highly populated area, crime doesn't go down. It sky rockets. It always has.
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