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> Don't get me wrong, I'm pro body cams and think they should be present in cases like this, but assuming every instance without bodycam is police acting in bad

by nkurz 4y ago

> Don't get me wrong, I'm pro body cams and think they should be present in cases like this, but assuming every instance without bodycam is police acting in bad faith is just political grandstanding. Do you have a better way of changing police policy to require the use of body cams in situations like this? I think normalizing a presumption that the police are hiding something (even if this is not true) is the most (and possibly only) effective means getting to somewhere better than where we are today. I genuinely have no idea what happened in this case, but in the absence of video evidence many people are going to presume the worst, and I can't prove that they are wrong. Regardless of whether the police acted appropriately in this instance, if we want to preserve respect for legitimate police authority (and I think it's important that we do) I think we need to force the police to document their interactions rather than demanding they always being taken at their word.

gruez 4y ago
>Do you have a better way of changing police policy to require the use of body cams in situations like this? Making an honest effort to convince lawmakers and voters that we need more accountability in the form of bodycams? I know it's hard, but it's certainly going to be more effective than being intellectually dishonest by pretending that every police shooting without a bodycam involves police malfeasance. I use pretend, because I think even the most diehard bodycam proponent doesn't seriously think that every (or even most) police shooting has police acting maliciously. Doing so basically amounts to chanting "ACAB", which is great for signaling to your fellow activist friends that you also hate cops, but isn't going change hearts and minds. Remember, most americans trust the police[1], so chanting stuff like "ACAB" or "assume it's murder unless they can prove otherwise" is only going to alienate them. [1] https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2022/02/15/americans-trust-in-scientists-other-groups-declines/ https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2022/02/15/americans-tru...

by nkurz 4y ago

gruez 4y ago

>Do you have a better way of changing police policy to require the use of body cams in situations like this? Making an honest effort to convince lawmakers and voters that we need more accountability in the form of bodycams? I know it's hard, but it's certainly going to be more effective than being intellectually dishonest by pretending that every police shooting without a bodycam involves police malfeasance. I use pretend, because I think even the most diehard bodycam proponent doesn't seriously think that every (or even most) police shooting has police acting maliciously. Doing so basically amounts to chanting "ACAB", which is great for signaling to your fellow activist friends that you also hate cops, but isn't going change hearts and minds. Remember, most americans trust the police[1], so chanting stuff like "ACAB" or "assume it's murder unless they can prove otherwise" is only going to alienate them. [1] https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2022/02/15/americans-trust-in-scientists-other-groups-declines/ https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2022/02/15/americans-tru...