Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show • Hacker News Board

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

#361

Post by sixothree » Sun, Jan 31, 2016, 4:51 PM UTC

defofinsane wrote: post #218

sixothree wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it is clear we need a national body to oversee police.

? The government is hopelessly corrupt, from the local police to the a president who condones torture and assassinates innocents, and yet there are still people who think the solution to corruption is an even more powerful government body. The definition of insanity is to try the same thing over and over while expecting a different outcome.

Checks and balances are one of the founding tenets of our country.

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

#362

Post by gnaritas » Sun, Jan 31, 2016, 7:09 PM UTC

Lawtonfogle wrote: post #276

gnaritas wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because that's "being soft on crime" which will lose you an election here. The propaganda machine makes it very hard to oppose the police.

So what you are telling me is that the people are being represented by who they elect. If the people want hard on crime to the point of violating civil rights and they get what they want, what is the issue? That a minority has to suffer because of the will of the majority... that is an inherent issue with democracy. Isn't there a quote that goes something like: People are ruled by the government they deserve.

That might be true if you ignore the distorting effects of propaganda. What the people want, and what they can be made to believe they want through targeted media campaigns selling lies are not the same thing. Small groups with money can have out sized influence that distorts democracy in the short and medium term.

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

#363

Post by neves » Mon, Feb 01, 2016, 4:45 PM UTC

neves wrote: post #243

bbarn wrote: post #74

Let's see.. in the 20 odd years here in Chicago, the sum of my police interactions are: Hit by a white shirt (supervisor) who came out of an alley on clark st while in a bike lane - somehow my fault, detained. Hit on foot, by a car with no lights on in a residential neighborhood while crossing at a crosswalk - somehow my fault for being outside while there was "a suspect being hunted" Watching officers on foot in 7-1…

First world problem there. In Brazil we had the "Caso Amarildo": https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caso_Amarildo They locked a humble worker without proofs, tortured him, killed him during the interrogatory, erased the cameras recording, turned off the GPS of the police cars that got rid of the body, and bribed a woman to commit perjury.

Just to get clear: "They" is the police.

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

#364

Post by atomicbeanie » Thu, Feb 11, 2016, 1:31 AM UTC

This is interesting. Normally police departments claim they have few ways to catch corrupt police. And I think there is more than a little truth to that. However, in this case the article shows that corrupt police are revealing themselves through the practice of destroying equipment. This could be an indicator that acts as a "canary" for police corruption! If police departments appropriately monitored such indicators, they may be on verge of discovering an easy method to spot criminal police officers before they do the damage to society.

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

#365

Post by atomicbeanie » Thu, Feb 11, 2016, 1:38 AM UTC

atomicbeanie wrote: post #364

This is interesting. Normally police departments claim they have few ways to catch corrupt police. And I think there is more than a little truth to that. However, in this case the article shows that corrupt police are revealing themselves through the practice of destroying equipment. This could be an indicator that acts as a "canary" for police corruption! If police departments appropriately monitored such indicators…

Of course, if the police do stuff like this: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/07/leaked-police... it is unlikely they are willing to take responsibility for enforcement. Rarely does enforcement happen without oversight. By hiding police records they protect themselves, the police department leaders. We should, however, be able to do better. Public records, paid for by the public, are easily considered public property. I think courts could handle this.