Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

I do not understand how these cannot be made idiot proof and cop proof. You can buy the simplest dash cams from China that record HD video and sound that take mere minutes to set up for under a hundred bucks. The first step needs to mandate a tamper proof system and disabling of any police car from leaving they yard unless the device passes on all tests. Then it should be required to report periodically to a central location if it is working and if not the officer can be directed to obtain a new car. Any device found damaged or tampered with should be a federal offense and investigated by the FBI.

As in, those given the ultimate responsibility should be held the most strict standard. Don't like it, get out.

These steps may be necessary, but how much of their behavior will change? And at what cost? Maybe it is time to evaluate training methods, hire people who have more empathy for powerful positions like police?

Maturity?

You see this as a prank?

I think you're on the wrong foot here. The premise of the cameras was not that they were there for decorative effect as some sort of symbol to be vandalized.

I see it as a majority of the Chicago police force destroying evidence and equipment necessary to investigate their actions. This is open rebellion with the intent to escape justice - though for what crime specifically we may never know.

Any proveably "deliberate" tampering should end in a firing, revocation of pension, and then court case brought against them. Any deliberate tampering during which the officer sustains a complaint against them? Enter this into presumptive evidence against the officer and recommend prosecution. We started monitoring the officer because it turns out they can't be trusted as much as we thought - slipping our monitoring and destroying our property is an overtly hostile act, the same as openly slitting the tires of an Internal Affairs agent in the process of investigating the officer.

To deter it in the future: ramp up the random checks (you did have random checks... right? I should be able to pick a random time and download footage) and enter in punitive fines for poorly maintained or operated cameras; Raise salary slightly to make it budget-neutral, but pay for prompt repair first.

Until police are jailed for this, nothing will improve.

What's the US equivalent of the Independent Police Complaints Commission?

The spin on the other side would be just as intuitive: "Our police officers are more concerned with getting away with abuse of power than following the law they're supposed to enforce, and as a result, tens (to hundreds) of millions in taxpayer money is being spent on lawsuit payouts, essentially a bailout for bad behavior."

While I agree that cameras should be required and intentional tampering a crime, I think behaviors would change much more quickly if laws were put in place to dock pensions and pay across the board to compensate for lawsuits of wrongful death and the like. Suddenly the "blue wall of silence" would become a very vocal supporter of police reform to identify and get rid of bad apples that threaten everybody's pension. Incentives are very powerful tools for changing behavior, much more powerful than blanket force by bodycam laws.