Posted on 12/02/2014 7:05:40 AM PST by Kaslin
In the immediate aftermath of Michael Brown's shooting, before we learned that he had not been shot in the back, that he had not had his hands up, that he had, in fact, attempted to grab Officer Wilson's gun, I wrote in favor of requiring more police to wear body cameras. Assuming nothing about Wilson's guilt or innocence, I wrote, "Cameras cannot repeal aggression, bias, rage or stupidity -- but they can certainly diminish them. And with cameras, justice for the guilty -- cop or civilian -- is more attainable."
In the wake of the grand jury's decision not to indict Wilson, Brown's parents have called for police to wear body cameras. I remain in favor, but the outright denial displayed by so many opinion leaders in this case makes me doubtful that even video evidence would be enough to calm the next storm if the victim of violence is black and the perpetrator white.
There was video evidence in this case: the convenience store robbery and strong-arming of the owner. Any fair-minded person would concede that while the footage didn't prove that Brown attacked Wilson a few minutes later, it did severely undermine the legend that was being spun of Brown as a "gentle giant." Yet most commentators on the left either ignored the store footage or suggested it was irrelevant. Missouri's governor denounced the release of the video as a form of character assassination.
For reasons best known to themselves, Ferguson authorities chose to withhold Wilson's account of the fatal encounter for many weeks. Arguably, this silence permitted the legend of a brutal, unprovoked attack on an "unarmed black man" to proliferate more than it otherwise might have.
Still, by October, word had leaked to a number of news organizations about the autopsy reports (there were three) on Brown's body. The reports proved conclusively that Brown was not shot in the back, did not have his hands up and had been shot at close range in one hand (consistent with Wilson's story about a struggle for his gun in the patrol car). He also had enough THC in his body to cause hallucinations.
Again, fair-minded people, presented with this evidence, would give Wilson a hearing.
Finally, in the weeks leading up to the grand jury's decision, reports surfaced that multiple African-American eyewitnesses corroborated Wilson's account of the events that day in their testimony. There was a bullet hole in the police car. Brown's DNA was found inside the police car and on Wilson's body.
Lovers of the racist-cop narrative swatted these inconvenient facts away, noting that there was "conflicting testimony." Well, yes. But the testimony of those whose accounts were at variance with the forensic evidence -- such as those who testified that Brown's hands were over his head when he was killed -- is not as trustworthy as that of those whose testimony was consistent with the other evidence.
So who really failed Brown? The "system" that refused to railroad an innocent cop to appease the mob, or the aggrieved parents themselves?
One must sympathize with parents who have lost a child. The image of Lesley McSpadden's tears is piteous. But her refusal to face reality is also documented. Responding to Wilson's interview, she said, "I don't believe a word of it. I know my son far too well. He would never (attack a cop), he would never provoke anyone to do anything to him, and he would never do anything to anybody." But we have video footage of what happened at the convenience store. Doesn't that count as provoking someone?
Imagine if footage surfaced from a security camera or cellphone somewhere of Wilson making a racist remark. Would those who stoutly deny that the convenience store video tells us anything relevant about Brown say the same? Of course not. The outcry would shake the rafters. In America today, not all evidence is created equal.
I'm still for cameras on cops. Some police officers abuse their authority, and cameras would diminish that. In other circumstances, the video would provide police with proof that their actions were justified.
But we cannot imagine that body cameras will solve the "Ferguson problem." Too many are too invested in the white racism morality play to let facts -- even videotaped facts -- get in the way.
I wonder if the body cameras would store the video on the officers person or transmit wirelessly to the car or other storage? I’d think in some cases a criminal might be more inclined to attack/kill the officer if they thought they could retrieve some damning video evidence from the officers camera.
An early news story after the shooting stated that Ferguson PD had ordered and received cameras but had not gotten around to issuing them prior to the shooting. Haven’t seen that info since then in any stories.
Precisely.
In the world we live in today, anytime a white person kills a black person, no matter the reason, it is automatically regarded as an act of racism and premeditated murder.
I tend to think that even if that had been seen on the tape, it would not have mattered to the rioters.
I don’t disagree.
A white officer shot and killed a black person.
That is the ONLY fact that matters to them.
Had Officer Wilson been black, there would be no major story.
The Secret Service should wear body cameras, don’t you think?
It will show all the Crazy people that the Police have to deal with every day . Police giving Warnings for speeding etc will come to an end .
Unless of course they could call the black officer a white black.
The false narratives are being manufactured in order to facilitate King Obama stepping in and taking over.
Michael Reichstag.
There is going to be more of this in the next two years.
The atmosphere right now is sooooooooooooo poisonous. There is no reason or sanity in many of these communities.
What will eventually happen...unfortunately....the rules for engagement for our police departments will become so onerous, our police officers will become pinned down, much like our troops are in battle. It will take an act of Congress or a court order before a police officer working in the field will be permitted to draw or discharge a firearm. This is where we are heading. Fewer people will want to serve in law enforcement. I see chaos, anarchy, and lawlessness as result....which is of course what they want...Planet of the apes.
Cameras will reduce the numbers of spurious complaints of police brutality, and specious lawsuits of same.
I want body cameras on our politicians.. I want to see who their selling us out to - and for how much.
Knowing this administration, they’ll make the cops have the perps sign a permission form before being allowed to film them.
You’re right. If Wilson had a body camera on him none of the Furguson stuff would have happened.
Think how our ‘civil rights’ liars would have reacted to the store clerk saying Brown had bullied him - IF their wasn’t a video showing the truth...
Body cameras will help the police - and open the eyes of people about the reality of the ‘black community’.
Based on the law of unexpected consequences I would expect it will be more, not fewer of o’s and h’s children behind bars.
Unintended consequence: where cops wear body cameras, complaints decrease substantially - because it proves that most of the time the cop is in the right.
Google Glass?
That would be the obvious choice.
And directing lots of dough to a regime affiliate, which is always the goal.
That's right. Once they throw the first accusation out there it becomes a perpetual tool for the likes of Chris Mathews, Matt Lauer, Stephanopolus and the rest. A permanent part of any question they ask would be, "Many say the video is altered...", or "The allegedly altered video...", ...or "The video that was never proven to be unaltered...".
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