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Better than nothing, however?
1) Privileged footage access by the police results in selective publication of parts of the video, creating false or distorted narratives;
2) Police cameras are cameras, so this results in increased surveillance.
Surprise! You can’t expect to extract any value from cameras under police control. The cameras must exist beyond the reach of police departments, and publish footage in a way that cannot be censored. The body cameras get censored because the police have created a system that benefits them, above all else. The reality of this outcome should weigh heavily on everyone’s mind, about how this correlates with every other a…
Easier said than done. Police officers are often seeing people on the worst day of their life. It would be an incredible decrease in privacy and general dignity if all footage was just published uncensored.
If someone assaulted you and stole your cloths would you want a video online of you being interviewed about the experience with just a towel on (and probably a few scenes where you are completely naked before they get you the towel)? That is potentially an extreme example, but ever day police officers interact with innocent people and victims that don't deserve to have that experience made public domain.
In short, the police need some way to make sure some video is kept private.
Police abuse of power is a terrible thing. I have no doubt they are literally getting away with murder and framing people in many cases. But we have to remember that a vast majority of what officers do is to protect us and help us in our time of need.
tl;dr: The problem isn't the "body cam". The problem is that the victims can't get at the body cam footage due to various rules put in place by departments and police unions.
Surprise! You can’t expect to extract any value from cameras under police control. The cameras must exist beyond the reach of police departments, and publish footage in a way that cannot be censored. The body cameras get censored because the police have created a system that benefits them, above all else. The reality of this outcome should weigh heavily on everyone’s mind, about how this correlates with every other a…
> and publish footage in a way that cannot be censored Easier said than done. Police officers are often seeing people on the worst day of their life. It would be an incredible decrease in privacy and general dignity if all footage was just published uncensored. If someone assaulted you and stole your cloths would you want a video online of you being interviewed about the experience with just a towel on (and probably…
Surprise! You can’t expect to extract any value from cameras under police control. The cameras must exist beyond the reach of police departments, and publish footage in a way that cannot be censored. The body cameras get censored because the police have created a system that benefits them, above all else. The reality of this outcome should weigh heavily on everyone’s mind, about how this correlates with every other a…
> and publish footage in a way that cannot be censored Easier said than done. Police officers are often seeing people on the worst day of their life. It would be an incredible decrease in privacy and general dignity if all footage was just published uncensored. If someone assaulted you and stole your cloths would you want a video online of you being interviewed about the experience with just a towel on (and probably…
Or if anything, they should not be tampered with and disabling them should weigh heavily against the police in the courts - it's one of the few ways they can disprove excess violence and such.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Every $1 spent on buying and maintaining useless cameras is $1 not spent on actual policing. So, much better than nothing?
If you dream of a Utopian land without police officers, I hear Somalia is gorgeous this time of year.
Surprise! You can’t expect to extract any value from cameras under police control. The cameras must exist beyond the reach of police departments, and publish footage in a way that cannot be censored. The body cameras get censored because the police have created a system that benefits them, above all else. The reality of this outcome should weigh heavily on everyone’s mind, about how this correlates with every other a…
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-bod...
Surprise! You can’t expect to extract any value from cameras under police control. The cameras must exist beyond the reach of police departments, and publish footage in a way that cannot be censored. The body cameras get censored because the police have created a system that benefits them, above all else. The reality of this outcome should weigh heavily on everyone’s mind, about how this correlates with every other a…
This summer, an officer in Maryland accidentally taped himself planting drugs. This case alone justifies the continued use of cameras (especially without the on/off button). Cameras should be under direct control of the judiciary, available to defense and not merely the district attorney's office. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-bod...
Surprise! You can’t expect to extract any value from cameras under police control. The cameras must exist beyond the reach of police departments, and publish footage in a way that cannot be censored. The body cameras get censored because the police have created a system that benefits them, above all else. The reality of this outcome should weigh heavily on everyone’s mind, about how this correlates with every other a…
> and publish footage in a way that cannot be censored Easier said than done. Police officers are often seeing people on the worst day of their life. It would be an incredible decrease in privacy and general dignity if all footage was just published uncensored. If someone assaulted you and stole your cloths would you want a video online of you being interviewed about the experience with just a towel on (and probably…
Better than nothing, however?
Not really. The article states two huge downsides: 1) Privileged footage access by the police results in selective publication of parts of the video, creating false or distorted narratives; 2) Police cameras are cameras, so this results in increased surveillance.