Police Body Cameras

jyl · jyl's Garage

Police body cameras have been getting attention after the Ferguson MO shooting and riots. What do you know and think about these? Are your local police using them? Pros and cons?

id10t · 09-04-2014, 08:42 AM

If a "not tolerating any BS" stance is taken by admins, and the unions back it up, then it will be great. But just like with dash cams, they seem to work fine when being used against non-police but there is a awful high percentage of broken cameras, failed recordings, missing tapes, etc. when someone in uniform may have been doing something wrong.

cashflyer · 09-04-2014, 08:48 AM

Quote:

In Rialto, officials say that complaints of police abuse plummeted after 120 uniformed officers were equipped with cameras in early 2012.

Amid outcry over police shootings, departments weighing cop cameras - LA Times

HardDrive · 09-04-2014, 09:12 AM

The people calling for this are going to get bit in the arse. While dirty cops are certainly out there, you know damn well that the vast majority of claims against them are baloney.

Rikao4 · 09-04-2014, 09:19 AM

it's a start...
and they need to lose the immunity from lawsuits..
let their Unions and the Leo pick up that tab..
not the city...

as for missing or broken cameras....
that should equal an automatic 10 million for the plaintiff ..

Rika

wdfifteen · wdfifteen's Garage

Seems like a good idea to me.
I don't know why the people calling for it would get "get bit in the arse." People who are filing false claims against the police aren't likely to be supporting this.

Rikao4 · 09-04-2014, 09:22 AM

sure the # of 'bad' is low....
then again it's not....
as all the supposed 'good' ones cover for them..
so you really just have a gang with nice outfits and toys....

Rika

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

I think every cop at every level that deal with the people should have one.

I honestly believe most cops are trying to do the right thing. I certainly understand there are a few bad cops.

Another law that needs to be put in place is the absolute RIGHT for anyone to video any police officer doing his job, and for any person dealing with a cop to record his or her encounter with a cop.

Every person dealing with any police officer of any sort should have the full right to record in audio and video that encounter, no exceptions ever.

bivenator · 09-04-2014, 09:25 AM

Talked to a cop just yesterday about this and he was strongly in favor. For the price of a few armored vehicles this can and should become standard police equipment.

Joe Bob · Joe Bob's Garage

The cops will more polite knowing that EVERYTHING is being recorded. NOW, if they would accept video from citizens with bike versus cars......

island911 · 09-04-2014, 10:30 AM

Police cameras will end up at the same place as Louis Lernner's blackberry...and computer hard drive, and every other hard drive that got the IRS directors emails.

It will be "My K-9 unit ate my body cam. ...

and peeps will shrug.

Joe Bob · Joe Bob's Garage

If the chief donut eaters were smart, they would transmit to the squad car to a secure tamper proof hard drive.

Jim Richards · 09-04-2014, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gh85carrera

i think every cop at every level that deal with the people should have one.

I honestly believe most cops are trying to do the right thing. I certainly understand there are a few bad cops.

Another law that needs to be put in place is the absolute right for anyone to video any police officer doing his job, and for any person dealing with a cop to record his or her encounter with a cop.

Every person dealing with any police officer of any sort should have the full right to record in audio and video that encounter, no exceptions ever.

+1

widgeon13 · 09-04-2014, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by island911

Police cameras will end up at the same place as Louis Lernner's blackberry...and computer hard drive, and every other hard drive that got the IRS directors emails.

It will be "My K-9 unit ate my body cam. ...

and peeps will shrug.

That is exactly what I was thinking.

"Oh, I forgot to turn it on. Sorry"

jyl · jyl's Garage

My reading - the devices seem to be pretty good. Not too bulky, batteries last 8+ hours. There will surely be disputes over when the camera is turned on and how the video may be used.

Some police unions are worried about the officer's privacy - will the camera record him going to the toilet, or *****ing about his boss? Some civil rights advocates are worried about citizens' privacy - will victims be video'd, or people just having normal interactions with officers? Some are worried that cameras will discourage people from giving police "tips" or asking for help, or that body cam video of celebrities will be exploited, or that rich jerks will subpeona body cam footage to fight their traffic ticket.

All that seems fairly minor to me. A chest mounted camera doesn't record the wearer's peeing. Who really thinks they have any privacy when speaking to a police officer? The camera units could be made even more discreet.

I can perhaps see controls and rules that make the video accessible only by a prosecuting attorney or a police oversight commission and admissible only in cases of use-of-force or violent crime.

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

I saw one department that said the officers were supposed to turn them on with any interaction with the public. Driving around in the car they should have a dash cam. Going to lunch or going to the bathroom it gets turned off.

MMARSH · MMARSH's Garage

Several of us have them already mounted on our Helmets,,,,personally, I think its pretty interesting the difference in how people act when they realize they are being video recorded.

MMARSH · MMARSH's Garage

Let me also add that the helmet cams were added by us voluntarily as a way of protecting ourselves against bogus complaints....

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMARSH

Several of us have them already mounted on our Helmets,,,,personally, I think its pretty interesting the difference in how people act when they realize they are being video recorded.

No doubt people act differently when they know they are on camera.

Jeff Higgins · 09-04-2014, 04:22 PM

Maybe the new creed will be "a recorded society is a polite society"...

Yes, people act differently when they know they are being recorded. On both sides of the law.

Funny, though, in that here in Seattle (on record as having one of the most violent police departments in the country, and under indictment from the Justice Department), I cannot remember a single video being released to the public (after some questionable, violent encounter between police and the citizenry) that has ever supported the polices' position. Every single one of them has been quite damning - for the police. Not a single one has ever had the Seattle public reacting "see - the cop was in the right...".

So, yeah, it stands as a fact of life that police get accused of all sorts of things they do not do. Let's face it - none of their "customers" are all that happy to see them. Most will do whatever they think they can to "get even" with the cop. I get that. Problem is, this situation has also provided a ready shield behind which bad cops can hide, and they have used it from time immemorial. Today, however, with the proliferation of modern recording devices, that veil has been lifted. Now we oft times get to see what the police have been able to deny for far too long. And it's ugly - very ugly at times.

It's long past due that every interaction between a cop and a citizen be recorded. It's also long past due that cops are made personally liable for their bad behavior. I think between the chest cams and personal liability, we may actually be able to get to the point where we are being policed in the manner in which our police claim to be policing us. Maybe...