What Happens When Police Wear Body Cameras?

[Agnostic007]

No.  There's to much chance of incidents happening when the camera is "off".  These are public servants.  Their rights and privacy diminish in exchange for the power to arrest and the use of lethal force.  There are perfectly fine video compression systems that will make a 8 hour shift recording into a manageable file size.  I do business recordings that condense 60 min presentations to 13mb.  When the shift is over the data is uploaded to a police server, immediately copied to a public citizen's watch group server (to help reduce "accidental" erasing).  The unit is wiped, recharged and ready for the next shift.
Nobody will be watching the cop take a shit or eat lunch unless there is cause to review the video.  Cops that work in the police station wouldn't be required to wear cameras.  Their behavior will be monitored by internal cameras I'm sure already exist in the buildings.

It sounds Orwellian for the police to be monitored so heavily but its for the protection of citizens.  Besides, if they're not doing anything wrong they don't have anything to fear.

I agree with the "not doing anything wrong then.." part. But the reality is, cops have conversations between each other about calls and incidents that are not meant for public ears. For example, I just have an incident with Jim Bob who is a complete ass with me. After dealing with Jim Bob who called me every name in the book it's likely I may want to decompress with a candid conversation with my partner. Granted, you could insist that every word I speak during the shift should be available to the public but that's not healthy for either. Or if my boss pissed me off at roll call, and I want to vent to my buddy, I can't. I'm on break and talk to my wife via phone, ... the conditions you are setting would be so annoying that I don't think you'd have many people applying at that department. No one, even the best super cop to ever walk the earth, would work under those conditions day in and day out.       

[240 is Back]

Trooper gets prison in theft from dying motorist


Source: Associated Press

Trooper gets prison in theft from dying motorist
Oct 10, 9:50 PM EDT

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) -- A former Connecticut state trooper was sentenced Friday to a year in prison for stealing $3,700 in cash and a gold crucifix from a dying accident victim.

Aaron Huntsman, 45, apologized at his sentencing hearing and said he wasn't the same man he was at the time of the 2012 accident, the Connecticut Post ( http://bit.ly/1tMiwHX ) reported.

"I'm truly sorry for everything, I never realized a simple gold crucifix could cause so much hurt," Huntsman told Judge Robert Devlin. Devlin told Huntsman that he should have been the one person at the crash scene who could have been trusted.

"You threw that trust out the window," he said. The judge sentenced Huntsman to five years, suspended after one year and followed by three years of probation.

[muscleman-2013]

I agree with the "not doing anything wrong then.." part. But the reality is, cops have conversations between each other about calls and incidents that are not meant for public ears. For example, I just have an incident with Jim Bob who is a complete ass with me. After dealing with Jim Bob who called me every name in the book it's likely I may want to decompress with a candid conversation with my partner. Granted, you could insist that every word I speak during the shift should be available to the public but that's not healthy for either. Or if my boss pissed me off at roll call, and I want to vent to my buddy, I can't. I'm on break and talk to my wife via phone, ... the conditions you are setting would be so annoying that I don't think you'd have many people applying at that department. No one, even the best super cop to ever walk the earth, would work under those conditions day in and day out.       

You'd still get plenty of people applying, because there are always desperate losers wanting a govt job.

[Agnostic007]

You'd still get plenty of people applying, because there are always desperate losers wanting a govt job.

True, but would desperate losers applying be a better solution than reasonable criteria on when the cameras can be off? I think we're using an elephant gun to kill a fly

[Agnostic007]

True, but would desperate losers applying be a better solution than reasonable criteria on when the cameras can be off? I think we're using an elephant gun to kill a fly

FYI, the fly made a furitive movement and I was in fear for my safety..

[tommywishbone]

FYI, the fly made a furitive movement and I was in fear for my safety..

Hahaha!  " I thought the fly had a weapon and I was in fear for my life and the life of others." -every pig that shoots an unarmed citizen