The police in Ferguson, Missouri have come up with a solution to prevent situations as they are having to deal with today. Their solution is…..wait for it……drum roll please…..cameras on officers! Ba-Bam!
(Newser) – Ahead of a visit from Attorney General Eric Holder today, officials in Ferguson, Missouri, say they want to make big changes to law enforcement and end the “discord and heartbreak” that has followed the police shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. A statement released by city leaders says it is looking at changes including requiring all police to wear cameras, hiring more African-American officers, and requiring police to live in the city, reports NBC, which notes that a petition seeking a “Mike Brown Law” to require state, county, and local police to wear cameras has now received more than 127,000 signatures.
In a St. Louis Post-Dispatch op-ed, Holder promises a full, fair, and independent investigation into the shooting. He praises the bravery of police officers who put their lives on the line, but also stresses that “good law enforcement requires forging bonds of trust between the police and the public.” Trust “requires that force be used in appropriate ways,” he writes. “Enforcement priorities and arrest patterns must not lead to disparate treatment under the law, even if such treatment is unintended. And police forces should reflect the diversity of the communities they serve.” Another person was shot and killed by police in St. Louis yesterday, but Ferguson was more subdued last night than it was the previous five nights, the AP reports. Police still made 47 arrests, but the crowds were smaller and no tear gas was fired. A grand jury will begin hearing evidence today on whether Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Brown, should be charged, reports Bloomberg.
Better late than never. We here on IST have been discussing that for a couple of days now….I wish I could say that it was here they got the idea….but being a realist…I cannot not.
Now I ask….will this help prevent such occurrences from happening in the future?
My thought is yes….but only if there is NO kill switch that the officer can use to blackout his actions.
Thoughts?
Cameras??? Jesus motherfucking Christ!!!
Is the modern “solution” to everything now involve surveillance cams? Oh yeah, tacking pictures of terrorists sure worked on 9/11! Thanks to all those cameras monitoring our every move, there hasn’t been a case of shoplifting in almost a decade and bar fights exist only in the movies. Speaking of movies, it will be cops who get “final cut” rights to determine the plot and content of the movie. So, expect some selective editing and lots of lost footage. (See the shoplifting Bonus Feature Ferguson PD added to this story!)
It’s already happened in my neck of the woods. Outside of a local bar a couple years back, there was a VERY one-sided altercation between a couple of black youths and some cops. The altercation took place within clear range of 2 external cameras on the bar, one municipal spy-cam and possibly some cop dashboard cams. Several witnesses had it on cell phone cams, which were “seized as evidence”. Miraculously, NOT ONE of the cameras present were functioning that night. Imagine that! As a result, the black youths’ claims were ignored as they recovered in hospital and the police version was accepted. Funny -eh?
The problem isn’t that cops aren’t pointing cameras at their
employersvictims. The problem is that cops see the public 9especially the poorer, darker skinned, or politically active, members of it) as their enemy. The problem is that they’re are too militarized, too technology dependant, too confrontation and too protected from any consequence of their actions. Cops are virtually immune from punishment, Even when caught red handed, rarely are they charged. Rarely are they convicted. And, even when charged and convicted, rarely is the punishment more than a suspension, or loss of job, no matter how serious the crime.Cameras do not address this fundamental problem. They only take pictures, pictures of people in their weakest & most vulnerable moments, pictures that remain under the control of the local police department, who are not under anyone’s control. Lest of all, the public’s.
However, buying cop-cameras does mean a lot more money going into the hands of the Military-Industrial-Spy Complex.
I am against too much surveillance but when it comes to cops I think it is a necessity…there have been too many cops walk on killings because of court proceedings…..maybe justice would be better served if they had to be recorded every minute of their shift…
The BEST thing I have to say about the camera idea is that, if cops were tracked 24/7 like every other
innocent citizenpresumed guilty suspect, they might develop a little sympathy for the rest of us trapped in this Orwellian totalitarian nightmare. Sympathy is something seriously lacking in today’s cops and that’s at the root of the problem. A warrior mentality has been intentionally bred into them. The Powers That Be have groomed them into their side’s army in the Class War. And our ignorant, violence driven, culture has reinforced the warrior mentality. They’re like Marines stationed in Afghanistan and everyone else is a potential “enemy combatant” to be beaten at will, tazered, shot, or taken to a newly privatized Gitmo near you.I see where you’re coming from, but mounting cameras on cops that will be pointed at the public will likely have the reverse effect. Cop-cams will become just another weapon in their already crowded arsenal. Everybody knows the one pointing the weapon has all the power and the one being pointed at has none. First, there are the previously mentioned “control of camera” issues that open things up to all kinds of abuse.
But putting that aside, the cop-cam itself contains a natural bias. Viewers naturally sympathize with the perspective of the camera. The viewer’s perspective will be that of the cops, so that’s who they’ll identify with. Only in the most egregious cases will sympathies switch to the person the camera is pointed at. It’s kind of like being stuck in the Conservative News bubble where all evidence, no matter how implausibly, gets bent to fit the official narrative.
Without ANY doubt, police departments will use these cameras as propaganda tools. Just as Ferguson PD released the “shoplifting tape”, police departments will only release tape of controversial events that fit their narrative. But just as importantly, they’ll feed the media a steady diet of videos that make them look heroic, or indicate they’re under constant threat. This will make the public even more biased in favour of the police than it already is. It will be used to justify bigger budgets, further militarization of the police and undercut pressure to punish police misconduct. We have more than enough of the cops perspective. They don’t need more propaganda ammo.
Cops are already being routinely filmed by ordinary folk cataloguing police brutality. Does that stop them? Hell, no! Shit, cops routinely beat people for filming them. Like this footage taken of cops “respecting” journalists in…Well, how about that? Ferguson! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmFkCTu_GVo
Even under the national spotlight, they are intentionally targeting people daring to film them. The Internet is awash with videos of Ferguson cops intentionally gassing and shooting at, not just ordinary folks filming them, but network journalists. Is anything going to result from that footage? Of course not! And we’re supposed to think cop mounted & controlled cameras will curtail their activity?
To anybody who thinks so, I got a bridge in Brooklyn I’m willing to sell.
I agree with the surveillance thing…but when it comes to the cops they need some accountability…..or mount it on their guns so when they are pulled it records everything until re-holstered….
That is where the problem is you cannot film these guys without retribution….that sucks and they need more control and do away with that ‘blue wall’ BS also…..
Have a great weekend….chuq
“Enjoy”??? Is that French for something? (Hehe.) As in, “Je voudrais regarder les couchons graver.”
Nah, I’m waaay too worked up. I just saw “Let The Fire Burn” on PBS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9eCA0bIezA It’s a documentary about how, back in 1985, the Philadelphia Pigs murdered 11 people (5 of them children) and burned an entire black neighbourhood to the ground because…well, because they felt like it. Despite plenty of evidence and sworn testimony by officials that they dropped a bomb on the house and gave orders to let the house burn, the ONLY person charged was the lone adult MOVE survivor. She spent 7 years in jail for “rioting” and, as far as I know, nobody so much as lost their job. Well, except for the only cop who demonstrated a milligram of humanity that day by saving an injured kid his fellow cops told him not to. He was rewarded by having “Nigger Lover” spray painted on his locker and getting run out of the department.
This is why I insist that all the HD video in the world is of no use whatsoever. None of it means anything unless motherfuckers start going to jail! It’s not from lack of evidence. It’s purely from the lack of will. If sworn testimony admitting your murderous actions can’t get even you charged, it’s just not worth the risk of cop-cams being used against people. (OK I’m a broken record now, so I’m stopping.)
That and, after some 25 years on the Internet, I still don’t know how to properly post a video link without it embedding. Damn technology!
HA Don’t feel bad…I cannot do it either….my daughter tells me and then I crap it up…..
You could make the surveillance angle less severe (and make the police officer hate it less too), by putting the camera on the gun, rather than the officer. Camera turns on when gun removed from holster, turns off when put back in. That way you have a record of where the gun is pointed, but if the officer wants to go take a leak or have a private conversation, there’s no intrusion,
Now there is an idea I had not really considered…..I like it….well done.
But to answer your original question, “Will it change anything?” The answer is absolutely not!
The problem isn’t that we’re unaware the police routinely abuse, intimidate and trample over people’s rights. Ever since the home movie camera was invented, there’s been NO shortage of videotape demonstrating police misconduct. You Tube probably has a video featuring every single police force in North America beating some poor sap. Some even get aired on local TV news, thus biting the hand that feeds them half their daily newscast. (A problem in itself.) The only problem is the critical shortage of ACTION. Even involving videos of obvious, unwarranted, police brutality, it’s far more likely the victim gets convicted for getting beaten than the cop for dispensing said beating.
The fundamental problem is that nobody (and certainly nobody who counts) gives a flying fuck about police brutality. That’s because the police tend to beat Nobodies who don’t matter. For example, here’s just one video of the hundreds (if not thousands) of Nobodies who got gang-beaten during the 2010 Toronto G-20 Piñata Competition for the heinous crime of “standing around”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI2b8igEYc8
This was far & away the highest profile Toronto G20 case and the ONLY action that got off the ground. Mr Nobody was initially charged for attacking the police. But after numerous examples of police tricks, lies and broad systemic resistance, one of these cops (curiously the darkest skinned one) was sentenced to 45 days. Thousands of videos demonstrating police misconduct resulted in a grand total of one minor conviction that only happened because of years of sustained community effort.
THAT’S why it happens… and will continue to happen. Our increasingly fascist ruling class wants it this way. And they’ve scared the public shitless, to the point where they WANT fascism. The public sees it as a choice between their rights and their safety. The classic bullshit sheeple line:
“If you’re not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to fear. So, if something bad happened to you, you deserved it. If you’re not guilty of this, you’re guilty of something else. Because you’re bad. The Good Guys say so… Please don’t beat me, 2+2 equals five, 2+2 equals five!”
Even when caught red handed, on video, the system circles the wagons. And, in the unlikely event something actually does make it to a courtroom,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjZysVHLA2Y
almost every jury is from Simi Valley.
Sadly I see your point and you are correct…..I had forgotten the King case……there are also many incidents where cops have killed people with little to no provocation and walked away Scott free…..
Ok, now I might enjoy my weekend. Thanks for coming around. 🙂
Any time….thanx for the comments…..see you later….chuq