Just a few bad apples...that have long spoiled the whole barrel.
Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show
41–50 of 365 posts
Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show
#42Though I agree that this behavior is reprehensible and probably criminal, the comments here seem to miss at least some of the human dynamic here. I can't hardly imagine that most people posting here would ever consider a job where literally every word or sound that came out of their mouth during their entire working life was recorded, and likely subject to public disclosure. Saying that this is what cops signed up fo…
Recordings aren't on all the time. Think about the rest of the picture. These guys do highly questionable (shooting people under dubious circumstances) and get paid leave. They sure as heck don't have their entire patrol recorded. If the union can negotiate the former the latter is a cakewalk.
They're typically set up so when lights or sirens come on then the audio/video recording gets turned on and stays on for an amount of time after lights/sirens turn off which is usually a minute or more. This is to discourage behavior like using lights/sirens to run red lights or bypass traffic jams. Years ago cops used to warn people who were going too fast but not fast enough to be worth a ticket by flashing their lights. They don't do this anymore because the chief doesn't like to see them giving out warnings based om something like "If you can stop the guy then stop him, who knows, you might get lucky and he's got a bong in the passenger seat, you don't catch any fish without a line in the water"
Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show
#43Just to be clear: what we are looking at is a concerted and coordinated criminal conspiracy to cover up a range of activities including murder.
And just to be clear: it goes on all the time in police departments, and most involved in this one will also get just a slap on the wrist.
Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show
#44Just to be clear: what we are looking at is a concerted and coordinated criminal conspiracy to cover up a range of activities including murder.
a concerted and coordinated criminal conspiracy Yes. It's Chicago. You've just described city government in six words.
Chicago might be notorious for high murder rates, crime, and corrupt government, but I would be shocked if this weren't happening in other areas across the country.
Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is no national body that oversees police, but Chicago has the Independent Police Review Authority. However IPRA rarely upholds complaints against police (it's staffed by ex-cops and other people connected to the police), and recently an investigator was fired after finding a shooting unjustified[1]. [1] http://www.wbez.org/news/city-fires-investigator-who-found-c...
Has this been proposed at all? Is there anything weird about american policing/law that would mean a national, federal agency wouldn't be able to take on this role?
This would be much easier to implement at the state level. Aside from a few specific instances with the DOJ such as the consent decree mentioned elsewhere, the federal government does not have any authority over local police departments such that it can do much of anything.
Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show
#46Though I agree that this behavior is reprehensible and probably criminal, the comments here seem to miss at least some of the human dynamic here. I can't hardly imagine that most people posting here would ever consider a job where literally every word or sound that came out of their mouth during their entire working life was recorded, and likely subject to public disclosure. Saying that this is what cops signed up fo…
"I can't hardly imagine that most people posting here would ever consider a job where literally every word or sound that came out of their mouth during their entire working life was recorded, and likely subject to public disclosure." It's becoming more common - professional atheletes and politicans fit into this category, even many day care workers who are paid even less than cops. I'm sure others can think of additi…
Well, for most devs/IT workers their whole internet activities are recorded too.
Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show
#47Chicago has a long history of wide spread willingness within its government to act criminally in return for personal gain. Until Chicago itself is feed up with it, nothing will change.
Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show
#48Until police are jailed for this, nothing will improve. What's the US equivalent of the Independent Police Complaints Commission?
Part of what stops police from routinely infringing civil rights in the pursuit of justice is the legal doctrine that evidence obtained illegally is inadmissible, as is all evidence gained from further (lawful) investigation based on that evidence [1]. what is needed is a law that operates in a similar way, that states that in any lawsuit or complaint against the police, there is a presumption of guilt on the part of…
> Although the Constitution of the United States does not cite it explicitly, presumption of innocence is widely held to follow from the 5th, 6th, and 14th amendments. See also Coffin v. United States and In re Winship. [0]
One does not sign away Constitutional rights because they become a police officer.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presumption_of_innocence#The_f...
Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you're not intelligent enough to know that law enforcement interactions with the public are recorded on dashcams, maybe you shouldn't go into police work...
But that's part of my point. When most cops became cops that wasn't the case at all.
We're talking about dash cams here, not body cams. They had TV shows in the 90s based on police chase videos from dash cams. World's Wildest Police Videos first aired in 97, though I suspect there were shows prior to that, the names I cannot recall. So police dash cams have been in the popular culture for almost 20 years. I think cops in Chicago (or any city) knew what they were signing up for at this point.
Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
But that's part of my point. When most cops became cops that wasn't the case at all.
When did most cops become cops? Shortly after discharging from the military. Amped up on PTSD and adrenaline addiction. Yeah, I want a camera on them every second of the day, whether they are on duty or off duty. The mentally ill should not have guns. We've had a steady drum beat that "common sense gun control" should include a psychological test. I don't think most cops coming into the job straight out of the milita…
The majority of police forces have psychological testing for applicants and routinely dismiss otherwise fit, healthy and intelligent individuals because the psych came back inconclusive.