I'm Not a Cop but...

[soFlaNative]

I'm all for accountability yet this bothers me and I'm not completely sure why.
Perhaps it is the seemingly broad brush approach overreaction.

News Flash • FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: South Miami Police Depar
I'm sure there will also be a favorable public response to the after encounter text survey.

 

[Baxter6551]

In my opinion you’re right. It should bother you and others.
Glad I’m not a cop in South Miami PD …. Next the public will be able to live time view the officers cameras - if the feature isn’t already in these new cameras.

Edit to add: If I was a Patrolman there I would be filing Freedom of Information requests for the Chiefs body cam footage ….

 

[tlawler]

I find that disturbing as well.

 

[dockmurgw]

Great idea, but only if EVERY elected official and employee of that city was required to wear one.

 

[Retired W4]

"anonymous feedback" Give me a break.

I guess transparency is a one way deal.

 

[Breakaway500]

Big brother is watching..

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Big brother is watching..

Big Brother was the first thing that went through my mind!

Ivan

 

[Retired W4]

Live streaming from your living room next? Orwell was a true visionary, but he thought it would happen a little sooner.

 

[A10]

There's no way this is going to help with policing. All it does is put street cops further under a microscope and take away officer discretion. Every one of their police officers is going to be micromanaged by their chain of command now.

 

[petepeterson]

Live streaming from your living room next? Orwell was a true visionary, but he thought it would happen a little sooner.

He also came up a little short from the reality we are facing...

 

[WR Moore]

I'm not sure of the source/motivation of this "innovation", but I don't think they thought through the unintended consequences. I share the micromanagement concern. However, I wonder how they're going to walk this back after the actions of command staff get put under the microscope. Heck, why not just send out drones and let the white shirts deal with the public direct?

Supposedly, defense attorneys often really, really hate body cams where the actions of their clients are available for the judge/jury to watch.

Late thought that I hope doesn't get me dinged: How about we fit politicians with body cams so we can observe all their actions?

 

[Denverd0n]

I see it as a double-edged sword. With the public videoing seemingly all police interactions these days, it at least will capture the events leading up to the incident, and one hopes show WHY the officer reacted the way he did. Nowadays, most of the time, it seems the videos captured by the public only start at the point where the officer is forced to get aggressive, and never show what led up to that.

 

[IAM Rand]

Make it pay per view so that they can buy more ammo and new vehicles. I have heard that shows like Cops do well in prison.

 

[JeffD607]

If the press and politicians keep it up, there won't be anybody wearing the uniforms, much less the cameras. Once upon a time you had to be the cream of the crop to get on the NYSP. Now, they are begging for people, like many other departments.

 

[jscheck]

I'm glad I was able to retire when I did. I'll leave it at that.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

There are a number of privacy and other issues with open broadcast body cameras. Coumbus PD had to "Scrub" other bystanders from images to be released to the media or used in a court case. One training officer told me that there were about 5 man-hours per hour of footage released.

ACLU will be all over this like "White on rice" in no time!

Ivan

 

[LVSteve]

Reading this carefully, I was struck by this section. Note the area I have put in italics

One of the most transformative features of Axon Body 4 is the integrated real-time oversight capability, powered by the “Watch Me” function and Axon Respond Plus. This system allows officers in the field to request immediate support from supervisors by activating their camera as a visual beacon.

To me that says the officer hits the button and his supervisor knows where he is and can deploy support. The officer on scene isn't burdened with operating a radio to give location details to a dispatcher when he/she likely needs both hands free to deal with a hairy situation.

Now, if the supervisors are given the option to make a camera live by remote control, we are into the world of micromanagement in a heartbeat. That would be a monumentally stupid slippery slope.

As for the cameras always going live when a gun or taser is drawn, so it should be. We should have learned that from the Ferguson shooting where it turned out in court that most of the "eye witnesses" never had eyes on the scene at all. Video crushes commentary, perception bias, and outright lies.

 

[WCCPHD]

I see it as a double-edged sword. With the public videoing seemingly all police interactions these days, it at least will capture the events leading up to the incident, and one hopes show WHY the officer reacted the way he did. Nowadays, most of the time, it seems the videos captured by the public only start at the point where the officer is forced to get aggressive, and never show what led up to that.

The media will edit out that part and only show what fits their agenda.

If police have to wear cameras then all politicians should be required to wear them also (and make them public record).

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

My uneducated suspicion is that it will help patrolmen more than hurt them, but I pretty much trust anyone above the rank of sergeant to vindicate all the concerns over micromanagement.

 

[Ματθιας]

"if you're not doing anything wrong, what have you got to hide?" Right? Right?