Will Forcing Cops to Wear Body Cameras Quell Brutality?

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/will-forcing-cops-wear-body-cameras-quell-brutality



***SNIP


What’s the Best Way to Implement Police Cameras?

Poor implementation of officer body cams can render them useless. A report on the Oakland Police Department, one of the largest law enforcement agencies using the cams, found that officers were refusing to wear or turn on their cameras, especially at critical moments.

That’s why the ACLU only supports the use of police body cameras if the correct policies are in place.

“We just don’t think officers themselves should have the discretion,” said Chris Rickerd, policy counsel for the ACLU in Washington.

While on the one hand, the ACLU doesn't support officers having the control over taping public encounters, Rickerd said, “We recognize that there are private elements to a shift, whether they be discussions at the stationhouse or changing into uniform.”

[Laelth]

1. Yes.

Where this has been tried it has proven to be very effective.

-Laelth

[blkmusclmachine]

2. Kinda like Russia...

[Downwinder]

3. Just say, "No picture, no pay."

[aquart]

4. Dramatically.

[2pooped2pop]

5. changing into a uniform and going to the bathroom are off the clock

activities. So I go with the other poster with No picture, No pay. You turn it off for 15 minutes while you are talking personal crap? That's 15 minutes you don't get paid for.

[etherealtruth]

6. They (PD) frequently claim that claims of their bad acts are false accusations ....

.... one would think this would help them, as well.

Agree completely that officers should not have the discretion to turn off their recording devices

[JJChambers]

7. EVERYTHING is better on camera

There will be fewer complaints against officers because people won't submit false complaints, and officers will be better behaved. There will be fewer cases of legitimate police excessive force because officers will know their actions are recorded, and people will be better behaved in the first place.

The most important thing in government, in my opinion, is transparency.

[Blanks]

8. There should be instances when the camera is on, but...

It doesn't always need to be on.

When an officer radios in that they are going into an area, or are in pursuit and anytime their gun is unholstered - there should be a recording. The camera should always automatically be activated when their gun is unholstered, but what are they gonna do with millions of hours of donut eating footage?

[valerief]

9. Right, and any interaction with the public their camera should be on.

But they deserve some blah-blah-blah bullshitting yap-flapping time with other cops that doesn't need to be recorded--with or without donuts.

[Blanks]

22. I realize that everyone is angry with cops right now, but...

They still provide a necessary service. I know I wouldn't continue to work somewhere that I was constantly being recorded. If we put too many restrictions in them - we will only have the lowest caliber persons remaining as cops. Perhaps you haven't been around here for all of the wailing and gnashing of teeth about the NSA surveillance - people don't like being recorded even if they aren't doing anything wrong.

We should have technology that keeps track of their whereabouts and starts recording when they draw their weapon or their night stick and immediately opens communication with headquarters.

The accountability needs to be increased, but there isn't any reason to monitor their every move - that just creates more bullshit to wade through if they have done something wrong. There are bound to be certain things that happen immediately before an incident involving force that can be used to trigger the recording device.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

10. i think cameras and microphones are a good way to go...

they are an impartial witness to activities conducted. i also think that if, during any interaction with the public, the camera is not ON that is ground for immediate suspension and possible termination.

sP

[etherealtruth]

11. Agreed! n/t

[Logical]

12. One worry is that all the video might be public domain......

do freedom of information requests could be used to obtain any footage. Including some that citizens might not want published. Like a melt down at home, domestic disputes, your son drunk, etc.

Some privacy laws might need to be addressed.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

13. excellent point... nt

[randome]

15. All of it uploaded to random but secure servers as encrypted data.

To be obtained and unencrypted only when a judge orders it.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]No squirrels were harmed in the making of this post. Yet.[/center][/font][hr]

[Logical]

16. But a freedom of information request might release it. nt

[Hosnon]

19. "Ongoing police investigation" is already an exception

in most sunshine laws. And privacy exceptions would cover home videos, etc.

[Logical]

20. Do more reading......

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/08/19/police-cameras-are-important-but-theyre-useless-without-proper-policies-to-ensure-theyre-used-properly/

[Hosnon]

21. Man I find the kind of condescension your posts represents so off putting.

Would you just shove an article at someone in person (you don't know) and say "Do more reading
..."? Tact is very valuable when trying to get a point across (which I assume you are trying to do).

There are concerns with any new technology, but there's no reason to think they cannot be reasonably addressed. I offered two possible solutions that wouldn't require amending most laws as they now exist (based on my experience litigating sunshine laws).

[Hosnon]

17. Allow people to request the camera be turned off

if in a private space under their control (e.g., your home). The request and explanation of the consequences of turning the camera off would still be filmed.

[malthaussen]

14. It will certainly lead to a lot of camera malfunctions.

I think it's a fine idea in principle. But unless there are consequences for turning it off, it won't have as great an impact as many supporters think. I'd expect a lot of "Darn, I hit the wrong switch" and "Would you believe it, my camera broke just before I emptied my clip into that kid."

-- Mal

[Hosnon]

18. Make them WiFi/mobile capable.

Any errors would be transmitted to a remote server.

[JoeyT]

23. You could make the camera default to on,

when it isn't on its charger. With the option to switch it off for a period of time (Say 10 minutes) if you have to go to the bathroom. If it takes longer than 10 minutes to use the bathroom, point it at a random direction and hit the button again.

There would be no more "We forgot to turn the camera on" defense. Victim's lawyers could now ask the question "Why did you turn your camera off when you approached my client?".

Edit: As for the other problem, the solution is what would happen if I told my boss they could go piss up a rope over one of my job duties: Unemployment.