Posted on 11/08/2013 1:41:23 AM PST by Hetty_Fauxvert
If you are stopped by a police officer in Cotati, the event will likely be captured on a video camera worn on the officer's shirt.
The city's 10 police officers now carry the pager-sized cameras, joining law enforcement agencies around the world that are rapidly adopting the devices to reduce complaints and record valuable information.
Santa Rosa police officers are testing models, with about 15 cameras now on the street. The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office expects to start a pilot program next year with cameras on 11 patrol deputies and two jail officers.
[. . .]
Currently, deputies do not wear video cameras or have them on patrol cars. But the presence of such a camera might have provided answers to at least some questions swirling in the community over the Oct. 22 death of Andy Lopez, which has sparked two weeks of protests and spawned a federal civil rights lawsuit by the teen's family.
I don't know if any type of camera, even with audio, could possibly reflect what an officer was feeling when such an incident occurs, but it surely would establish if his actions were objectively reasonable under the circumstances to show sustained fear of death and/or great bodily injury to himself or others, county Public Defender Kathleen Pozzi said in a statement.
Lopez was walking through a southwest Santa Rosa neighborhood carrying an airsoft BB gun resembling an AK-47 assault rifle when he was shot seven times. Deputy Erick Gelhaus told police investigators he ordered Lopez to drop the gun, then fired when the teen turned toward the deputy and his partner, raising the barrel of the BB gun.
Gelhaus said he mistook the airsoft gun for a real assault weapon and feared for the safety of himself, his partner and the neighborhood.
(Excerpt) Read more at pressdemocrat.com ...
Body cams for LEOs are an excellent idea and win/win for everyone but the people that shouldn’t be cops and those who falsely accuse the police.
1. Honest officers’ careers can be saved by these cameras, by showing what really happened in the incident they are accused of misbehaving at.
2. *Dishonest* cops can now be more easily caught.
3. No more lawsuit lotto via he-said-she-said type accusations.
If anyone wants to see how these things work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKA3h4PQaJU
And, if said body cameras capture evidence of your innocence or malfeasance by the officer, the footage will be lost before your case comes to trial.
Where can the citizens obtain such devices at reasonable cost? I think we all need to start wearing them, with remote storage if feasible....
Can police record w/o permission in stares where citizens cannot?
(MO allows one sided recording, FL requires all parties to be aware, but I am certain this only applies to citizens, not the king’s guards)
Mandatory body cams & taser guns seems like a no brainer to me.
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