Posted on 08/19/2014 2:28:01 AM PDT by markomalley
Sometimes, like the moments leading up to when a police officer decides to shoot someone, transparency is an unalloyed good. And especially lately, technology has progressed to a point that it makes this kind of transparency not just possible, but routine.
So it is in Rialto, Calif., where an entire police force is wearing so-called body-mounted cameras, no bigger than pagers, that record everything that transpires between officers and citizens. In the first year after the cameras' introduction, the use of force by officers declined 60%, and citizen complaints against police fell 88%.
It isn't known how many police departments are making regular use of cameras, though it is being considered as a way of perhaps altering the course of events in places such as Ferguson, Mo., where an officer shot and killed an unarmed black teenager.
What happens when police wear cameras isn't simply that tamper-proof recording devices provide an objective record of an encounter—though some of the reduction in complaints is apparently because of citizens declining to contest video evidence of their behavior—but a modification of the psychology of everyone involved.
The effect of third-party observers on behavior has long been known: Thomas Jefferson once advised that "whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching." Psychologists have confirmed this intuition, showing that something as primitive as a poster with a pair of glaring eyes can make test subjects behave better, and even reduce theft in an area.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
The Lo-fo’s will think any resulting videos are faked or photoshopped, so it won’t make any difference, IMO...
Works both ways. The perp knows he’s on film, too.
Not sure I really see a downside of this.... I think in todays technological world it only makes sense and protects the Police as well as the Citizens. If Officer Wilson had been wearing one, there is a good chance we would not have been seeing riots the past 10 nights... Maybe not but he would have something to prove or disprove his story right away.
It's been known longer than that...
1 Thessalonians 5:22
Abstain from all appearance of evil.
Job 34:21
His eyes are on the ways of mortals; he sees their every step.
If Officer Wilson had been wearing one, there is a good chance we would not have been seeing riots the past 10 nights...
...really...? You think that if there were visible evidence for everyone to see that the cop shot the black guy, tensions would be calmed...?
Well if it does not fit their story, I could still hear them yelling it is photo-shopped like they are about the liquor store video, so I guess I would not be 100% sure it would have made the difference, but would like to hope so... I guess my main problem is I don’t understand the point of the looting and rioting to support the cause they are protesting for, so just don’t really know.
yes it would-
Up here in Minnneeeesooota- quite a few
of the police departments have automatic dashboard
cameras - WIth audio - comes on any time lites go on
or the officer can turn on - I know where my wife
works- CLAIMS of police Harrasment,Racist language,
the old- “I wasn’t doing anything- minding my own business”
Have dropped dramatically!- actually if police are called
to a scene- the perps have scattered- they KNOW THEY WILL
be caught on Video/Audio— guess what everyone (including
the black population) has a sense that Trayvon and Michael
were NOT acting innocent- they just think they should not
have been killed!
Any logical person would conclude from this data that the officers were knowingly using force inappropriately before the cameras were used.
There’s no reason that these shouldn’t be on during the ENTIRE SHIFT that the policeman is on duty.
That way, no one can say they turned off the camera to perform a nefarious deed.
Or, any logical person might also conclude that the use of force was previously quite low, and that the 60% reduction in force falls within the standard deviation.
Also, the fact that the actual numbers are not reported, and the actual episodes are not described, should make a logical person suspicious.
Also, the fact that perps know they are being taped may change perp behavior, too.
Also, complaints to the Police Department may decline when residents can watch a video of the actual episode on their local news channel.
Ping!
Cops hate them. Masaad Ayoob suggested that they wear cameras ten years ago, but most cops don’t want to have their actions on record.
Even though it will protect them. Makes me rather suspicious
They should do it for the dogs.
You are right but the police have already figured out that when they want to murder someone they can just turn them off.
That’s partly my point - turning them off would be an admission that the officer intended to do something that he didn’t want anyone else to see.
This is exactly how it should be viewed when they try to disallow people from videoing their actions while on duty.
When taken to court, the officer should be immediately suspected of doing something malfeasant.
I agree entirely. This is a good parallel to the Lois Lerner situation.
Which is why cops don’t want the cameras.
“Privacy” and such not. Never mind the serfs can be filmed all day and night, the King’s law doesn’t apply to the King’s Servants.
That’s the stuff that Declarations of Independence are made of...
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