Cameras will compel the police to stick with ‘safe’ actions makes a great argument in favor of police cameras, IMO.
“Cameras will compel the police to stick with ‘safe’ actions makes a great argument in favor of police cameras, IMO.”
The word “safe” meaning from the cop’s perspective, not the public’s.
Armed robbery in progress? domestic disturbance? anything for which direct police involvement may very well result in someone being harmed - and the video scrutinized? police will fast learn to show up at the scene just a little later, in hopes that the conflict will be over with and all he need do is clean up the mess. This does NOT work in favor of the population at large.
Most of what cops do IS legitimate & desirable. Hard to do a good job policing when every thug & jerk on the street KNOWS there’s a camera and it can be leveraged to the perpetrator’s advantage. Hard to do a good job when the pay is marginal and the risks of disciplinary action for minor accidental transactions grows by orders of magnitude.
Yeah, cops need to not cross the line. Be careful about pushing that line too close to them; they may find safer employment elsewhere.