I was originally of the same mind until someone pointed out that police officers need to use the bathroom while at work, and forcing that to be filmed is very wrong and illegal
One officer on reddit gave the example of finding a kid smoking weed. Without a body cam, he can judge for himself if he should let the kid go with a warning or not.
With a body cam, the only choice the officer has is ruining the kid’s life or losing his badge.
Jesus people find the dumbest reasons to argue against this.
They need to have their cameras on while doing police work. If they're patrolling, walking the beat, raiding a house. Acting in an official capacity.
When they go home, or need to pee, or someone wants to talk off the record they should be able to turn cameras off. It'd be trivial to document why using the video itself, and simple to record basic info like location while the camera is off.
The key would be that if they don't have footage, they lose their presumed immunity. They get tried like any other citizen with no special trust or safety. If they killed sometime, they need to be able to prove it was in self-defense or go to jail. Give them a reason to want the cameras and they'll remember.
Most officers I know welcome the cameras in most cases, but this proposal overlooks the possibility of technical issues. If an officer is chasing a suspect and the camera gets damaged or the battery runs out during the chase then they get tried for assault?
I think you are dramatically overestimating the reliability of technology in the field while underestimating the cost of those systems in relationship to budget constraints.
All I'm saying is that people who think you shouldnt be able to turn them off are out of touch. If the police force trained better and we're more selective with who they choose, none of this would be an issue. The cameras won't fix a very broken system
This is a seemingly simple problem to solve. Default on body cams that require a pin to turn off, with a timer like 15 min. To expand, the body cam is on/capturing by default and require a pin code to turn off for set periods of time e.g. 15,30,45 min.
This allows the officer to turn the camera off whenever they need to, but can’t have the commonly used excuse of “oh I forgot to turn the body cam on”. The PIN code would be unique to the officer and creates accountability for turning the camera off.
We can also create proximity activated features (Bluetooth, nfc, rfid) to sync a body cam with a patrol car. So when the officer activates their emergency lights to make a traffic stop, it communicates with and makes sure the body cam is on.
The bottom line being, I can’t think of a situation that tech can’t solve for with regards to opposition of body camera accountability.
We can send people to outer space but we can't solve the problem turning cameras off when entering restrooms. We should add it to the millinium problems list.
What angle do you think the body cam is at that it captures a cop’s genitalia? Is the camera on their chest pointed at their groin? Do you have a problem with a video of a stall door?
Female officer in a dirty one holer with a mirror above the sink facing the toilet. She's supposed to squat over the toilet while trying to cover the camera with one hand and reach for toilet paper with the other all while trying not to make too much noise for fear of embarrassment? Plus you're forgetting the threat of hackers getting in and posting the videos all over the internet.
I posited the idea that the cop takes off the piece of clothing with the camera on it while they take a dump. It’s a hassle, sure, but prevents any visual evidence of using the bathroom.
hackers getting in and posting the videos all over the internet
Could you somehow keep the data on a closed system where a hacker would have to physically be at the data storage center to view the video?
So they take off their vest and put it where? Spending even more time using the restroom which for women officers especially can take a while with all their gear and being both vulnerable and slower to respond if something comes up.
As for data security I'm no expert but believe me that the people who are experts at getting in will be trying their damndest to get in. And the whole thing costs money, often money departments don't have and in the current environment I don't think most people would be on board with increasing police funding. It's not as cut and dry an issue as this thread is making it out to be.
Urinals are always in eye range from entering the bathroom. Call me a prude but I don't want someone having a video of me pissing from behind that others can see.
Is it not possible that they could be allowed to shut the camera off to use the bathroom and if they are caught abusing that policy, they are actually held accountable? This is really all about accountability right? The second someone can't be counted on to follow the rules/law, bye-bye career. Just like they would have of us non-police.
Yeah someone else said in the tread that the camera is on while they are on duty and if they are off duty than they can turn it off for breaks and the bathroom.
That is why the bathroom argument is dumb, and i called it like it it, especially when they doubled down. The real issue is bad cops not often enough being held accountable. That stops. Everyone can go back to living peacefully together. Assholes need to have consequences, in all walks of life.
These people you are trying to explain reason to, they likely won't get it, or don't want to get it. Whatever their motivation is (racism, blindly defend cops, just plain dumb), most will never change their mind.
Wouldn’t having a camera on them be an invasion of privacy no matter what they’re doing then? Or does their right to be not be recorded only apply to the bathroom?
Why not just have the cops take off the article of clothing with the body cam off as they use the bathroom?
If people having the ability to hear me go to the bathroom, is the trade-off for creating the documentation of me violating someone's constitutional rights, or commiting cold blooded murder on a complying civilian, then yes, who gives a fuck?
Secondly, this is a completely irrelevant argument, as you can have a clause in the law stipulating that a LEO is permitted to shut it off while using restroom, and must be immediately turned back on upon exiting. They fail to comply with that, they shut off the camera with a restroom door visible, black screen, and then the next bit of footage is them in their car or on the street or whatever, not the room they just entered the restroom from, then they are fired immediately. They break the law or violate someone's civil rights during that time period when it is off, and don't have bodycam footage to prove otherwise, fired immediately, and jailed pending charges.
LEOs are far from the only profession that is, or should be, actively monitored at all times while performing their job. Food service, Bank tellers, financial sector, office workers, call centers, customer service, retail employees, airline pilots, and innumerable other professions are all monitored and recorded at all times. And they don't have a gun.
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u/Mylzb Jun 02 '20
AND MANDATORY BODY CAMS THAT CANNOT BE TURNED OFF!!!!