Posted on 01/28/2016 12:34:06 PM PST by Citizen Zed
The microphone equipment for the dashboard camera in the cruiser in which Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke was riding on the night he fatally shot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald had been "intentionally destroyed", according to maintenance documents first acquired by DNAinfo.
The records, which include service requests on hundreds of Chicago police vehicles, show that officers have routinely been involved in the intentional destruction and sabotage of body-worn microphones that sync with dashboard camera video.
After the video of the Laquan McDonald shooting was released in November, it was discovered that as much as 80% of the department's dashcam footage was missing audio. This was determined to be due to technical failure, human error or in some cases, according to police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, "intentional destruction".
William Calloway, a Chicago activist who was instrumental in obtaining the release of the Laquan McDonald footage, said the logs proved a premeditated effort by officers to avoid transparency.
"They are intentionally sabotaging this audio equipment because in their mind, they're going to do something wrong or reckless when they're outside on the beat," Calloway said.
He added that he was "absolutely not shocked or surprised about it at all".
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
You would think cops would WANT to have a good record for evidence...
It is absolutely stunning to me how many of them are AGAINST it.
I programmed a vehicle locator system for the local country- they acted like I was their enemy or something.
In their eyes you are an enemy, the police have an “US against them” mentality.
“They are intentionally sabotaging this audio equipment because in their mind, they’re going to do something wrong or reckless when they’re outside on the beat,”Calloway said.”
I doubt it. More likely they just don’t want their private conversations recorded on the official record.
We used to pull the flight deck voice recorder circuit breaker when performing maintenance on air force planes for the same reason.
“You would think cops would WANT to have a good record for evidence...”
When you know you can violate the law and the courts will take your word as a higher standard of evidence than other testimony, no you don’t want to have other evidence that can contradict that.
If you’re on the clock as a public servant, you aren’t having private conversations.
Some do. Some don't. It's a mix. But those that do are the ones who are responsible for all the stories we see in the news.
Good OPSEC techniques demand that we assume they all are.
Having worked as an investigator for a large suburban city, I assure you it is to cover up what they do wrong. Cops lie, they lie to protect others, they lie to support an arrest. It is truly an “us against them” mentality, especially as they are often rated on how many arrests are made, how many tickets are written, how much contraband (ie cars, money) is seized in the ‘War on Drugs’.
You just took away their ability to drive out of their zone at whim, and made them accountable for any divergence from what their superiors have ordered them to do. They can't lie about where they are if they don't want to take a call (such as a domestic) or if they would rather be doing something else.
Beyond that, nobody likes being watched even if they have no intention of doing anything wrong. It makes them worry that they might slip someday and get in big trouble for it.
“If you’re on the clock as a public servant, you arenât having private conversations.”
In an ideal world. Reality is different, unfortunately.
“In an ideal world.”
No, I mean, it’s a simple fact. They might imagine their conversations are private, of course, but that doesn’t make it so. They are answerable to their superiors for everything they do during the work day, so it can’t possibly be “private”.
Actual police officers want proof of the crimes of the people they’re arresting. They want video cameras to ensure evidence of a crime.
Criminal thugs with badges don’t want evidence of their crimes lest THEY be arrested. They HATE cameras because they ensure evidence of a crime.
“No, I mean, itâs a simple fact. They might imagine their conversations are private, of course, but that doesnât make it so. They are answerable to their superiors for everything they do during the work day, so it canât possibly be âprivateâ.”
You mean like our Federal workers who spend their day surfing porn sites?
I believe they only activate when the red-lights are turned on.
I was an LEO for 25 years and I wish I had recording of all the crazy stuff that went on daily. People don't believe me when I explain the complete insanity that was on the southwest border during the 80s and 90s.
There was a shooting in Oregon the other night where the truth about what law enforcement-FBI or State Police-did to Robert “LaVoy” Finicum.
if the cars were being worked on i don't care, when they are on patrol, it's criminal
“if the cars were being worked on i don’t care, when they are on patrol, it’s criminal”
I never said it was right, I only offered a possible motivation.
I agree that they should not be disabled. If they are only active when the cops are responding to a call, that seems ideal.
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