masspirates
commented
9 years ago That was a nice piece, thanks for sharing.
I'm in favor of having the police carry body cameras, and I agree with the NYT article -- it seems like a good way to get an objective record of officer/public interactions.
Although they're a step in the right direction, cameras aren't a panacea. For example, Eric Garner's choking was filmed; he's still dead, and it seems that little will happen to the officer who choked him. (Although, the recording was done by a separate individual. Perhaps that officer might have behaved differently if he'd been wearing a camera.)
Alberqueue Police killed a homeless man earlier this year. The entire incident was recorded with a helmet camera, and the police dept released the video.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8aa_1395460451
I don't know if anything ever happened to the officers.
Steve
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/22/us/in-california-a-champion-for-police-cameras.html?_r=0
"In the first year after the cameras were introduced to Rialto, CA in February 2012, the number of complaints filed against officers fell by 88 percent compared with the previous 12 months. Use of force by officers fell by almost 60 percent over the same period."
“When you put a camera on a police officer, they tend to behave a little better, follow the rules a little better,” Chief Farrar said. “And if a citizen knows the officer is wearing a camera, chances are the citizen will behave a little better.”
"Thus far, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California has not received any complaints about police body cameras."
“Cameras hold real promise for making it easier to resolve complaints against police,” said Peter Bibring, a senior lawyer with the A.C.L.U. of Southern California. “They do raise privacy concerns, but ones that can be addressed by strong privacy policies.”