Posted on 11/27/2014 6:58:21 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Body-worn cameras are poised to become standard for police around the U.S. after the tragedy in Ferguson
In the fevered moments after the grand jury’s decision not to charge Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, the family of the slain 18-year-old released a statement pleading for peace — and urging people to join their campaign to get police around the nation to wear cameras.
“We need to work together to fix the system that allowed this to happen,” the statement read. “Join with us in our campaign to ensure that every police officer working the streets in this country wears a body camera.”
The crusade is understandable. No video recordings of the Aug. 9 confrontation between Wilson and Brown exist, and eyewitness accounts of the incident were often in conflict. Some said Brown had his hands up when he was shot. Others said Brown was charging toward Wilson when he officer fired. To many, a camera on Wilson’s uniform would have ended the uncertainty and potentially avoided the subsequent tumult that engulfed the St. Louis suburb.
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
Committing strong arm robberies and attempting to take a law officers gun at age 18 means that the odds of reaching 19 are not good.
Act like a thug and you'll lose your freedom or your life.
Yes, it is possible. But then there's also the dashboard cameras. And the neighborhood cameras in a growing number of cities. And someday, probably, the rooftop drone camera, with the drone automatically launched when the cop car is stopped with its red lights flashing. All these cameras are going to add up to a better and better view of every situation.
All making it harder and harder for bad cops to be bad, and for lying "credible witness friends of unarmed teens" to get away with their lies.
That probably is the best possible thing that could come out of this mess.
It’ll be great as we see the conviction rate for black men rise and we hear shouts of how there must be something racist behind it all.
Yes, they will complain. But you’re still better off having the cameras.
The fun part is that the complainer types will all come up with different theories and argue among themselves which is correct (just as with televised football and baseball plays) instead of coming to one unified imagined conclusion. This means they’re going to be busy disagreeing with themselves instead of rioting. How is this not an improvement? :P
Actually we’ll get:
“Wilson’s hands were out of frame. How do we know he’s not pointing his gun at Brown or flipping him off to antagonize him? And look... he turns his body right there for half a second... what did he not want us to see!!!?!?!?”
RE: Isn’t it possible that cameras will not see everything?
Sure, but something is still better than nothing.
In some cases, cameras would help. In others, probably not.
If Wilson had been wearing a camera, it would prove that he was acting in self defense and make a grand jury’s call simpler, but it still wouldn’t stop the claims that he could have acted differently.
Brown’s cousin was on TV the other night claiming that Wilson should have calmly talked to Brown and tried to reason with him. He cited a case where this was done and all ended up well. Cameras won’t deter the Monday morning QB’s claiming that the police should have done this or that to diffuse the situation.
Another thing - cameras would set the narrative from day one, preventing months of a false narrative from taking hold, e.g. Brown was holding his arms up in surrender when he was shot.
Yes. I thought of the same thing. Nevertheless though not perfect it would be helpful. They could also have multiple cameras.
A “tragedy.”
The family will win the race to the bottom to earn 1st place in the “Who’s the Most Depraved Family in the U.S.?” award.
I am absolutely in favor of body cameras. While I’m 100% behind Officer Wilson, this country has an unacceptably high number of cops wantonly beating and killing people and dogs, and generally abusing Constitutional rights of innocent Americans. On other side, they’ll turn the race hustlers’ “all white po-lees is rasiss” narrative on its head. I’m in favor of accountability for all involved.
Nothing like leaving out the fact that ALL of the forensic evidence supported Darrin Wilson's version of events. Even if there had been a body camera, the thug enablers would have disregarded it as doctored police evidence.
If he had been wearing a camera it would just have been more evidence that got ignored by blacks, liberals, and the Press.
San Diego PD are in a trial with body cameras. So far, there has not been any incident. I guess the true test will come if the current protests here happen to turn ugly.
There were pros and cons about the idea, because the new head of the PD is a woman, but so far it’s been quiet.
It's hard to reason with two thugs walking down the middle of the street who, when asked politely to move to the sidewalk, tell the cop to go f himself and then proceed to beat him up and try to take his gun.
EVERY TALKING POINT by these thug enablers fails to hold up to the evidence as we have it. More evidence in the form of a camera would not change a thing, IMO. We saw it with Trayvon as well - any fact that conflicts with the meme (basically, just about all of facts fit that criteria) is ignored, downplayed or shouted down.
Maybe it would also save a few dogs.The canine type.
For some reason The View was on while I was working yesterday. Huge applause when Whoopi opined that cameras should be worn to”protect us”. Then she said it would also “protect them”(police). Only about half the applause from the idiot audience. Those committing crimes will not be happy and the race batters will lose incomes. Of course, there will also be the black racists who will claim the tapes are edited.
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