Officer Indicted On Murder Charges Thanks To His Own Bodycam

[Gravekeeper]

Score One For Body Cameras

On the other hand, holy shit, what the fuck? He quite literally shoots the guy dead instantly with a shot to the head through the window the moment the guy goes to step out of the vehicle. There's no build up or warning or anything. It happened so fast I didn't even notice and was still bracing myself. I thought the guy had taken off on the traffic stop and that was why the cop got riled up and shot him, but he was already dead and had just slumped forward on the gas so the car careened off out of control.

I mean, just, holy fuck what is going on with police training and why are body cameras not federally mandated yet?

[Aragarthiel]

One of the local PDs just spent $10 million on drones they don't need while they also say they can't afford bodycams. So, spend close to a million dollars per drone (fourteen drones total, IIRC) so you can "keep an eye on hostage situations" that NEVER happen, but don't hold your own officers accountable for their often very wrong actions.

To answer your question, the money's being spent on toys.

[Estil]

We REALLY need those bodycams and squad car cams. Not just to catch the guilty cops who abuse their authority (or abuse other people/things!!) but also to clear the innocent ones who did nothing wrong.

Normally I'm all about privacy and all that but this is different. This is not the general public we're talking about, these are sworn police officers who took an oath to serve the public trust, protect the innocent, uphold the law (yes that's from a movie but I'm sure the real life version is close enough) and I don't think it's asking too much to make absolutely certain in any way we can that they are doing just that. Cops are supposed to be counted on to be the good guys after all.

[s_stabeler]

oh, and one more thing: considering that more often that you'd think the cameras are either off, or the video is mysteriously missing when there's controversy over how a cop acted, have the cameras both always-on, and have them transmit the video both to the PD, and somewhere else out of the control of the PD. (why? so that if the PD "loses" the video, there is another copy. ( it also helps for situations where the PD si dragging it's feet on releasing it)- again, this isn't entirely due to cops deliberately leaving off dashcams/bodycams- I could see that if a cop has to switch on a camera, they are unlikely to catch the entirety of an incident, or to legitimately forget- but it's still useful.

[Greenday]

I thought the guy had taken off on the traffic stop and that was why the cop got riled up and shot him, but he was already dead and had just slumped forward on the gas so the car careened off out of control.

That's what it looked liked happened and he was absolutely trying to run away. But I'm pretty sure you can't shoot someone for running. They have to be an immediate danger to yourself or someone else.

Body cams are a no duh decision. The only reason I could imagine for disagreeing with them is because you abuse your authority and don't want to get caught.

[Gravekeeper]

That's what it looked liked happened and he was absolutely trying to run away. But I'm pretty sure you can't shoot someone for running. They have to be an immediate danger to yourself or someone else.

Yes, the shooting happens so quickly I didn't even catch it the first time. Because its just so out of nowhere. Nevermind that the officer also inadvertently created a dangerous situation with a run away vehicle.

[protege]

The only reason I could imagine for disagreeing with them is because you abuse your authority and don't want to get caught.

That's exactly why many cops don't want them. They know that they took the job...simply so they could push people around. They enjoy being in control, and don't want to have to face the music if they get caught.

[Racket_Man]

Since a lot of people now have smartphone this also might be a very good idea

I head this on CBC's As It Happens tonight (they play it on our US local Public Radio station. The story is about an app for smartphones that lets you instantly begin recording AND sends a text message to 3 different persons that you are being traffic'ed stopped AND brings up relevant law/statues AND WILL e-mail the sound and/or video to said stop to the 3 above mentioned persons so an independent record is preserved in case the cops confiscate the phone and erase the sound/video recording (which HAD happened many times before).

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/...lice-1.3172841

[Shangri-laschild]

have the cameras both always-on, and have them transmit the video both to the PD, and somewhere else out of the control of the PD.

I'm all for dash cams and body cams. My department is actually looking into the body cams and trying to get them. We are a department of 12 officers though, including all of the Sgts, so the budget gets tricky. It's not the cameras that are the big sum of the cost as much as the computer programs and server space. I'd be fine with them being mandated so long as departments were given time or funding help to get the program in place. I'd also be in support of regulation for how good they have to be so that departments can't skate by on crappy outdated equipment.

There does need to be a way to turn them off somehow though. How does an officer go into a public restroom with a camera on them? Or even a one person bathroom really. And what about on their lunch break or when report writing or various things like that. Because if it's recorded, it's subject to FOIA. I do think it is completely reasonable to expect the cameras to always be on if the officer is patrolling or out in the car.

I do realize that an on/off switch definitely is a problem when it comes to untrustworthy type officers who would use that function to not have recorded evidence though so it gets tricky. I wish in general that there was more crack down on officer misbehavior. It shouldn't have to get to the point of an officer shooting someone to realize that they aren't a good cop. I find it hard to believe that there weren't signs before hand if you were actually looking for it.

[Andara Bledin]

I wish in general that there was more crack down on officer misbehavior. It shouldn't have to get to the point of an officer shooting someone to realize that they aren't a good cop. I find it hard to believe that there weren't signs before hand if you were actually looking for it.

If other incidents are any indication, there likely were signs that were overlooked.

I mean, really, when cops can kill the citizens they're supposed to be protecting and typically not get punished for it, why should we expect them to be punished for anything else?

[s_stabeler]

I'm all for dash cams and body cams.

I actually agree- though depending on how long they have to be out on patrol for, they could always use the bathroom in the police station- where, since thee are cameras anyway, they can take off the bodycams.

[Greenday]

I actually agree- though depending on how long they have to be out on patrol for, they could always use the bathroom in the police station- where, since thee are cameras anyway, they can take off the bodycams.

I'd imagine that'd be detrimental to patrolling though if they have to drive all the way back to the station for the bathroom. Might work in small towns but in much bigger areas it'd be tough.

[Aragarthiel]

Would it be logical to have an "audio only" setting for body cams? That way they can turn the video off to use the bathroom/whatever, but there would still be some sort of surveillance on them. At the very least it would be easy to tell if an officer turned it to "audio only" for a legitimate vs. illegitimate reason, and if the officer turned it off for any illegitimate reason a reprimand would be in order.

[Shangri-laschild]

If other incidents are any indication, there likely were signs that were overlooked. I mean, really, when cops can kill the citizens they're supposed to be protecting and typically not get punished for it, why should we expect them to be punished for anything else?

That's part of the overall problem that needs to be fixed. Departments need to be taking care of this stuff and if they aren't, new people need to be getting put in charge of the departments. It doesn't fix all the problems and even then I'm still in favor of cameras but it would help a lot. I wonder if there need to be better psych evals in place before hiring as well though I know ours is about half a day of hell from what I've heard. I get solidarity and that you have to be able to count on your coworkers and trust them when they might be your life saving backup but more officers need to get it through their head that they have to report issued as well. And if it's not taken seriously, reported higher up till someone listens.

they could always use the bathroom in the police station

Might work in small towns but in much bigger areas it'd be tough.

Yeah exactly, for state police or even county police this wouldn't really work. And not all departments have cameras. My department is moving office areas and I believe will have a camera in the interview room and the back doors once we move but at this point we have none. Hell, right now our interview room is also our breakroom and mailroom. Our med room is our old tiny supply room. Not all departments have as much as others and so some would have to rely on things like body cameras during interviews or stuff like that.

[s_stabeler]

that's why I said it depended on how long they have to be out for.

ultimately, though, I think we can agree that a requirement that a body/dashcam be turned on during any situation where you may need to use your police powers- and keep spares at the station in case the cameras get broken- is a good idea. ( if a camera does get broken shortly before an alledged incident, it might be a good idea to check to see if the camera caught how it got broken- specifically, if either party deliberately broke the camera. if so, the obvious inferences about what happened can be drawn(and no,I don't just mean corrupt cops- I mean suspects trying to avoid evidence being collected as well))