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Nice, balanced article on an emotional topic. I think most people would agree that the video should come into evidence if someone ends up dead. Also, most peop

Nice, balanced article on an emotional topic. I think most people would agree that the video should come into evidence if someone ends up dead. Also, most people would agree that videos should not all be released publicly. But there are a lot of difficult situations between those two extremes. Even if the rules about releasing footage are quite restricted, I think body cameras will influence the behavior of police. Not always for the better necessarily, but I think they will reduce the number of fatal police shootings.

thaumasiotes 12y ago
How do you envision body cameras making police behavior worse?
- TheCondor 12y ago
  Fundamentally, they are people. Maybe even more importantly, crime doesn't just happen nonstop all the time everywhere. How many of us spend time at work not working? If every one of your smoke breaks, trips to hn, and other assorted breaks were recorded, I'm sure a damning case could be made against you the next time you're up for review. You don't think that would have political implications? I can't think of all the out comes that could have. Likewise, I'll tell a personal story. I tend to drive fast. I've not had many tickets but I've had a few. Two really cool police gave me warnings a handful of years back instead of tickets; not just a warning but they reminded me of the car seat in the back, my family and suggested I slow down to be safer. It had a dramatic impact, I'd just get pissed off and pay a ticket but the warning, that they chose to give, stuck with me more and I've slowed down. Could that be done by a robot police officer that never takes breaks and follows the law literally and letter by letter? What if those cops had a record of giving certain races warnings but came down hard on other races? im not against body cameras, especially in the current world of paramilitary style police, but it seems like there is a need for some human wisdom on a case by case basis here. Simple fixes could easily have some bad outcomes.
- jeffdavis 12y ago
  Inaction, hesitation, CYA, stay out of the way, etc.
brc 12y ago
Good cops should insist on body cameras. A good cop has nothing to lose and everything to gain. False accusations go both ways - police are accused of acting improperly and criminals are (obviously) accused of acting improperly. A good cop should never act improperly but may be accused of it, and they'd want evidence that it isn't the case.
- JshWright 12y ago
  Most good cops I know _are_ in favor of body cameras. However... I think it's pretty reasonable to have some reservations... How would you feel about wearing a camera that would allow your supervisor to view absolutely everything you did during the day (sans bathroom breaks)?

thaumasiotes 12y ago

How do you envision body cameras making police behavior worse?

TheCondor 12y ago
Fundamentally, they are people. Maybe even more importantly, crime doesn't just happen nonstop all the time everywhere. How many of us spend time at work not working? If every one of your smoke breaks, trips to hn, and other assorted breaks were recorded, I'm sure a damning case could be made against you the next time you're up for review. You don't think that would have political implications? I can't think of all the out comes that could have. Likewise, I'll tell a personal story. I tend to drive fast. I've not had many tickets but I've had a few. Two really cool police gave me warnings a handful of years back instead of tickets; not just a warning but they reminded me of the car seat in the back, my family and suggested I slow down to be safer. It had a dramatic impact, I'd just get pissed off and pay a ticket but the warning, that they chose to give, stuck with me more and I've slowed down. Could that be done by a robot police officer that never takes breaks and follows the law literally and letter by letter? What if those cops had a record of giving certain races warnings but came down hard on other races? im not against body cameras, especially in the current world of paramilitary style police, but it seems like there is a need for some human wisdom on a case by case basis here. Simple fixes could easily have some bad outcomes.
jeffdavis 12y ago
Inaction, hesitation, CYA, stay out of the way, etc.

brc 12y ago

Good cops should insist on body cameras. A good cop has nothing to lose and everything to gain. False accusations go both ways - police are accused of acting improperly and criminals are (obviously) accused of acting improperly. A good cop should never act improperly but may be accused of it, and they'd want evidence that it isn't the case.

JshWright 12y ago
Most good cops I know _are_ in favor of body cameras. However... I think it's pretty reasonable to have some reservations... How would you feel about wearing a camera that would allow your supervisor to view absolutely everything you did during the day (sans bathroom breaks)?