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>The dash cams are for their benefit. There was a county in another state that implemented dash cams for their police force and found an 80% drop in complaints

by pflats 11y ago

>The dash cams are for their benefit. There was a county in another state that implemented dash cams for their police force and found an 80% drop in complaints against officers. Baloney. The cameras are for the public's benefit. Imagine your employer (or whatever) came to you and said, "From now on, you're wearing a camera whenever you're working. It's for your benefit; if anyone ever accuses you of slacking off, you'll have the video evidence to prove that you're not." Would your productivity increase? Almost definitely. Is the camera really for your benefit? Nope.

ceejayoz 11y ago
It's true though, in this case. Police are far more likely to have complaints levied against them than most other professions. There's minimal downside as a pissed-off arrestee to filing a spurious complaint. http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/2014/03/28/fact-check-do-police-cameras-decrease-police-complaints/ http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/2014/03/28/fact-check-do-poli... > Police officers in the small city of Rialto in San Bernardino County have been wearing cameras since 2012. Rialto Police Chief William A. Farrar, working with a Cambridge University researcher, found two big results: Complaints against his officers declined by 88 percent and officer use of force declined by 60 percent. A police department with body cameras probably won't see many false "he called me a nasty word!" complaints, and cops will be a lot less likely to actually use a nasty word or unnecessary force. Good cops benefit from being able to defend themselves, and bad cops either shape up or get caught. That is, of course, as long as the department cares when they break their cameras.
rmc 11y ago
"Slacking off" is very different from "Shot and killed someone". Recording people at work is proportionate to reducing killings.
jbob2000 11y ago
My manager looks through all of the code I commit as part of a review process. How is that any different? I know that if I commit sloppy code, he will come and talk to me. And if I commit good code, he will give me a hearty handshake and a pat on the back. So I try not to commit sloppy code because I know he is watching.

by pflats 11y ago

ceejayoz 11y ago

It's true though, in this case. Police are far more likely to have complaints levied against them than most other professions. There's minimal downside as a pissed-off arrestee to filing a spurious complaint. http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/2014/03/28/fact-check-do-police-cameras-decrease-police-complaints/ http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/2014/03/28/fact-check-do-poli... > Police officers in the small city of Rialto in San Bernardino County have been wearing cameras since 2012. Rialto Police Chief William A. Farrar, working with a Cambridge University researcher, found two big results: Complaints against his officers declined by 88 percent and officer use of force declined by 60 percent. A police department with body cameras probably won't see many false "he called me a nasty word!" complaints, and cops will be a lot less likely to actually use a nasty word or unnecessary force. Good cops benefit from being able to defend themselves, and bad cops either shape up or get caught. That is, of course, as long as the department cares when they break their cameras.

rmc 11y ago

"Slacking off" is very different from "Shot and killed someone". Recording people at work is proportionate to reducing killings.

jbob2000 11y ago

My manager looks through all of the code I commit as part of a review process. How is that any different? I know that if I commit sloppy code, he will come and talk to me. And if I commit good code, he will give me a hearty handshake and a pat on the back. So I try not to commit sloppy code because I know he is watching.