Are copwatches good or is it putting cops' lives in danger?

[Drach]

Which is good, the cop was stern but not trigger-happy enough to pull out his weapon and use force...activists need to learn to strike a balance.....

Cops need to understand the law. 1st amendment auditors make sure the police are not above the law.
I have spent over 1000 hours doing ride alongs with Oakland police officers and absolutely know that the particular officers I have ridden with break the law everyday.
Everyone of them feels above the law.

 

[akugami]

Cop watches are not needed if every single cop has a working body cam. It should be a permanent infraction on their permanent work record to not have a working body cam. This means it should show up on their employment record if they were to quit their current jurisdiction and get a job as a cop in a different jurisdiction. There is no excuse for not having a working body cam. It protects the cop, and it protects the potential perpetrator. As a public servant, and considering the nature of the job, I feel this is required.

It is also legal, and should be made clear to the cops it is legal, to record a cop while they are working. The only caveats being that the recording must be done in a safe manner, and where you do not impact their ability to perform their duties. Meaning you can't be next to the cop trying to record them, or when there's a firefight going on. Move your ass out of the way if that's the case.

 

[GettyRoad]

Cops need to understand the law. 1st amendment auditors make sure the police are not above the law.
I have spent over 1000 hours doing ride alongs with Oakland police officers and absolutely know that the particular officers I have ridden with break the law everyday.
Everyone of them feels above the law.

Because they are the authority, they have a gun and a badge.

 

[brycejones]

Because they are the authority, they have a gun and a badge.

Uhhhhhh

 

[IronWing]

Because they are the authority, they have a gun and a badge.

If that is their attitude, fire them.

 

[GettyRoad]

Uhhhhhh

They have a gun and a badge and people generally like them......what are they then?

 

[GettyRoad]

If that is their attitude, fire them.

What do we give them a badge and a gun for then?

 

[fskimospy]

What do we give them a badge and a gun for then?

We give them that to enforce the law. The problem is they often break the law, and so we as a society need to hold them accountable.

They are not special - if they do a bad job fire them. Really, society would be better off if we paid cops more in exchange for making it much easier to fire bad ones.

 

[Zorba]

Cop watches are not needed if every single cop has a working body cam. It should be a permanent infraction on their permanent work record to not have a working body cam. This means it should show up on their employment record if they were to quit their current jurisdiction and get a job as a cop in a different jurisdiction. There is no excuse for not having a working body cam. It protects the cop, and it protects the potential perpetrator. As a public servant, and considering the nature of the job, I feel this is required.

It is also legal, and should be made clear to the cops it is legal, to record a cop while they are working. The only caveats being that the recording must be done in a safe manner, and where you do not impact their ability to perform their duties. Meaning you can't be next to the cop trying to record them, or when there's a firefight going on. Move your ass out of the way if that's the case.

Body cams only serve this purpose of they are completely open to the public, with no editing, redactions, or delays. I think of several legitimate reasons why that probably shouldn't happen, but as soon as you give police the ability to control the release of videos they will use it to hide corruption.

 

[brycejones]

They have a gun and a badge and people generally like them......what are they then?

Are you generally drunk?

 

[soulcougher73]

Because they are the authority, they have a gun and a badge.

So that gives them the right to break laws they are paid to uphold? Maybe cops should start arresting cops for breaking the laws then.

 

[Jaskalas]

Being up in their space means you are a potential threat.
As such you are diverting their attention from the primary suspect. Allowing for miscalculation.

Idea good, execution terrible.

 

[dank69]

Cops are the authority:

 

[akugami]

Body cams only serve this purpose of they are completely open to the public, with no editing, redactions, or delays. I think of several legitimate reasons why that probably shouldn't happen, but as soon as you give police the ability to control the release of videos they will use it to hide corruption.

This should go without saying.

The only thing that should be edited out, and by that I mean using a blur or mosaic filter on the scene, for anything that may compromise an ongoing investigation or court case, and maybe scenes that are too graphic in nature such as dead body. The scene is not cut out, just obstructed from full view.

 

[Zorba]

This should go without saying.

The only thing that should be edited out, and by that I mean using a blur or mosaic filter on the scene, for anything that may compromise an ongoing investigation or court case, and maybe scenes that are too graphic in nature such as dead body. The scene is not cut out, just obstructed from full view.

How about protecting the subjects identity? There are a lot of body cam shaming videos on YouTube, is that really appropriate? People that work in sensitive jobs may be okay with telling an individual cop where they work, but don't want it all over the internet.

One time I was questioned after I pulled over on the highway because my friend opened the door and started puking. We were coming home from a strip club. I had no problem telling the cop, but I'm glad the video isn't on YouTube for anyone to find.

 

[akugami]

How about protecting the subjects identity? There are a lot of body cam shaming videos on YouTube, is that really appropriate? People that work in sensitive jobs may be okay with telling an individual cop where they work, but don't want it all over the internet.

One time I was questioned after I pulled over on the highway because my friend opened the door and started puking. We were coming home from a strip club. I had no problem telling the cop, but I'm glad the video isn't on YouTube for anyone to find.

I'm not sure what protections are in place now. I've seen released police videos where the perpetrator or the person being stopped is fully visible and identifiable. I'd be perfectly OK with blurring out the person's face to protect their identity.

The main point is to oversee police activity to make sure they are in full compliance with their job regulations, and to make sure the police are not engaging in activities such as police brutality or racial bias.

 

[Moonbeam]

I consider it a long held conclusion, one quite personal to me, that whenever questions like the one before us here, the wisdom or foolishness of cop watching, and its various pseudonyms, rise to thelevel of conscious consideration in the minds American citizens, a veritable cacophony of mental associations cascade like a waterfall over a cliff, each independently triggered by the particular and unique subjective nature of each of that collective’s past and such that while all of those perspectives and opinions could be described as having millions of various hues and colors and each in its own way is true from the individual's perspective, it turns out that in the aggregate they all amount to little more than sound and fury. It is my conviction, therefore, based on this wisdom unique to my own conditioning, and founded, as it were, on deep psychological considerations, unlike the folderol found elsewhere in this thread, that the question of whether cop watching is a good or a bad think can be understood quite simply. It is good when it is good and bad when it is bad and when those conditions apply and when they do not is beyond my capacity to say. It all depends, and depends most likely on whatever experience last comes to mind, on this cop watching question, whether positive or negative.

I know that I would be very upset were I shot because a cop hesitated to protect me for fear of being caught out as trigger happy, but naturally only if I were to survive. Dead people, it seems, don't make complaints. However, I would not particularly care to be shot by a cop halucinating a gun in my hand, naturally if the same conditions of survival just mentioned also applied.

 

[Zorba]

I'm not sure what protections are in place now. I've seen released police videos where the perpetrator or the person being stopped is fully visible and identifiable. I'd be perfectly OK with blurring out the person's face to protect their identity.

The main point is to oversee police activity to make sure they are in full compliance with their job regulations, and to make sure the police are not engaging in activities such as police brutality or racial bias.

Yeah I agree. There should probably be a third party that gets the raw footage and blurs/bleeps based on an established set of rules.

 

[nickqt]

I've said it before.

If and when everyone has a body camera recording and uploading to a cloud account whatever they see, the safer everyone will be.

Y'all can skip the gun debate entirely. Whether it's Mr. Shitbird common criminal, or Mr. Shitbird with a badge, being on someone else's camera is the great equalizer.

Flip the script on 1984, give people the power. Want to see how powerful it would be, try getting a bill passed where all governmental activity is recorded and available for viewing by the people who fucking pay for it. I know, laughable scenario...because it has no chance of passing, because it'd work.

God damn body cams are cheap as shit, as are cloud services. Out in public? Behave or else. Goes for everyone.

 

[Moonbeam]

I've said it before.

If and when everyone has a body camera recording and uploading to a cloud account whatever they see, the safer everyone will be.

Y'all can skip the gun debate entirely. Whether it's Mr. Shitbird common criminal, or Mr. Shitbird with a badge, being on someone else's camera is the great equalizer.

Flip the script on 1984, give people the power. Want to see how powerful it would be, try getting a bill passed where all governmental activity is recorded and available for viewing by the people who fucking pay for it. I know, laughable scenario...because it has no chance of passing, because it'd work.

God damn body cams are cheap as shit, as are cloud services. Out in public? Behave or else. Goes for everyone.

Now connect that to an AI that is aware of everything and everybody around you and has the capacity to speak with you, warn you of danger, and if you show signs of being a threat to others yourself, shut you down.

 

[GettyRoad]

Cop watches should be in Black areas with white cops (I believe white cops should not be allowed in Black areas, nor should they put their lives for those areas).....where the trouble usually is....

 

[brycejones]

Cop watches should be in Black areas with white cops (I believe white cops should not be allowed in Black areas, nor should they put their lives for those areas).....where the trouble usually is....

How do you get your white robe so clean after the “meetings”?

 

[fskimospy]

Cop watches should be in Black areas with white cops (I believe white cops should not be allowed in Black areas, nor should they put their lives for those areas).....where the trouble usually is....

What.

 

[brycejones]

What.

I think GettyRoad just really let us know how "centrist" they are.

 

[nickqt]

Now connect that to an AI that is aware of everything and everybody around you and has the capacity to speak with you, warn you of danger, and if you show signs of being a threat to others yourself, shut you down.

A camera facing the world means that every interaction you have puts the other person on record, and vice-versa as there's now a camera on you. Other person rips you off, it's on record. You rip other person off, it's on record. If you and the other person plan on ripping each other off, turn off those cameras and reap those rewards, I guess.

Accountability. It's built in. Who will watch the watchers? Well, we all will. Police brutality gets both "sides" of the story from the get-go. Resisting arrest? Let's take a look at the videos. You shot to death this person out of self-defense? Let's go to the tape. Oh, your camera was off? That's fine, we'll look at the person who you shot to death for a more complete take.

Oh, the horrors of accountability. Might as well attach a boogieman to it so we can hide in our safe spaces. AI is going to turn us all off or something, so lets not do this cheap and absolutely logical thing that holds authority accountable as much as authority already holds you accountable...because you're delusional if you don't know how much you're already recorded by the people with all the money and power right now.

Also, AI doesn't exist in any sense of the term, and I have a feeling it never will. ChatGPT hones in on keywords and then regurgitates words that other humans have already put together. AI is in essence plagiarizing and paraphrasing other people and pretending to do it intelligently through witty presentation. Call me when SkyNet goes online and actually "thinks". Shit, someone call me when a code writer can convincingly tell me how a set of code is thinking, cause I don't expect a code writer to even know when that is happening, never mind knowing how it is happening. ChatGPT and other "AI"s are just replicating millions of 16 year olds with access to Google, prove me wrong.