Body Cam proves cop was innocent

[TheSiege]

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=31772096&ni...e-police-shooting&fm=home_page&s_cid=topstory

Not only do body cams protect victims, but I am sure it will save tax payers money by not having a trial and a lengthy investigation and chance of being sued.

 

[JEDIYoda]

as it should!! This time the body cam was working....

 

[Darwin333]

Which is why police should welcome them with open arms.

 

[The Merg]

Which is why police should welcome them with open arms.

99% of them do.

- Merg

 

[werepossum]

Cool story, thanks.

 

[JEDIYoda]

99% of them do.

yeah right.....

 

[The Merg]

yeah right.....

It's true. They know it will be more of a benefit than a hindrance. It wouldn't surprise you to know the number of people that make complaints about officers to IA and it becomes a he said/she said sort of thing. To be able to easily have a video reviewed to determine what happened is a welcome thing for most cops.

- Merg

 

[The Merg]

yeah right.....

It's true. They know it will be more of a benefit than a hindrance. It wouldn't surprise you to know the number of people that make complaints about officers to IA and it becomes a he said/she said sort of thing. To be able to easily have a video reviewed to determine what happened is a welcome thing for most cops.

- Merg

 

[JEDIYoda]

It's true. They know it will be more of a benefit than a hindrance. It wouldn't surprise you to know the number of people that make complaints about officers to IA and it becomes a he said/she said sort of thing. To be able to easily have a video reviewed to determine what happened is a welcome thing for most cops.

Umm actually I hardly think the Police welcome body cams.....what the Police welcome is a body cam that they can control...as in turn off and turn on as the need arises...

 

[highland145]

Umm actually I hardly think the Police welcome body cams.....what the Police welcome is a body cam that they can control...as in turn off and turn on as the need arises...

Is what you think in the realm of normalcy?

 

[The Merg]

Umm actually I hardly think the Police welcome body cams.....what the Police welcome is a body cam that they can control...as in turn off and turn on as the need arises...

Believe what you want to. The issue most cops have with video as displayed to the public is that it never shows the whole situation. The body cams would solve that issue as they could be on from the beginning of a situation until the end.

The biggest issue is having a system that makes it dumb easy to turn on. They have ones now that will turn on when the cruiser's lights are turned on, but what happens when something occurs right in front of the officer and they jump out to take immediate action? If the officer doesn't think to turn on their lights or camera right then, are they screwed? And while it's easy enough to say that the camera should be recording 24/7, what happens when the officer goes to take a dump or wants to call his wife to discuss a personal or health issue?

- Merg

 

[Pulsar]

Umm actually I hardly think the Police welcome body cams.....what the Police welcome is a body cam that they can control...as in turn off and turn on as the need arises...

Perhaps in your fantasy land where every cop's a crook out to get someone.

That's not exactly reality though.

 

[Pipeline 1010]

The issue most cops have with video as displayed to the public is that it never shows the whole situation. The body cams would solve that issue as they could be on from the beginning of a situation until the end.

Cops will still say even the body cam doesn't show the whole situation, whenever it makes them look bad.

The biggest issue is having a system that makes it dumb easy to turn on.

Always on. Problem solved. BTW if "dumb easy" is the threshold of what a cop can or can not use effectively, then maybe we are ignoring the real biggest issue.

And while it's easy enough to say that the camera should be recording 24/7,

Nice try, Exaggeration Man. Not 24/7. Only while on the clock.

what happens when the officer goes to take a dump or wants to call his wife to discuss a personal or health issue?

Yes, some 3rd party video technician somewhere might see you pinching your loaf whilst he is searching for the part of the vid that shows you shooting a non-seatbelt-wearing motorist just shortly after finishing said dump. Although since the camera faces away from you, he's going to see 5 min of the inside of the stall door. If that's too much for your fragile little ego, find alternate employment. You have been granted extraordinary amounts of authority, power, and trust. In exchange you're going to sacrifice some privacy on the job. That's the deal.

 

[Pipeline 1010]

Excellent news, by the way...innocent cop exonerated!

 

[JEDIYoda]

Believe what you want to. The issue most cops have with video as displayed to the public is that it never shows the whole situation. The body cams would solve that issue as they could be on from the beginning of a situation until the end.

you really think so? The real issue is when a cop screws up they want no part of the body cam...thus....needs to be able to turn it off and on at will...

 

[momeNt]

It's really awful that some people look to cops for assisted suicide, which is pretty much what this guy was doing by faking drawing a gun, further evidence of this by his facebook post.

 

[Oldgamer]

99% of them do.

- Merg

NO they don't. Miami Dade Police officers are against them and so are many cops in New York and many other states. They claim that body camera's put their lives at risk. They all say it will make them too self conscious and more hesitant to act:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/...-police-union-Cameras-are-not-safe-for-police

Many of the police unions are already pushing back on the whole "body cams" thing.

 

[bradley]

There are a few interesting facts that have yet to be discussed.

Police may have commanded Dillon Taylor to stop, however he was wearing earphones and possibly unable to hear them. Anyway, I won't formulate a complete opinion until the *conspicuously absent* audio data prior to the shooting is released.

Additionally, Dillon's brother and cousin overheard the cops mention the bodycam at the scene. When the Taylor family later request a viewing of the footage, the police department lie by saying the bodycam had been disengaged.

I assume police wanted to first analyze the video to make certain nothing incriminating was captured. The officers also refuse to give their names and badge numbers, which is against Utah law.

Otherwise, this appears to be another case of profiling or swatting. Police receive an elaborate 911 description of three men "obviously looking for trouble, just the way they look" waving a gun. And a 20 year-old unarmed man is shot based on this faulty intelligence.

Reading Dillon's Facebook, you can see he took his mom's recent death extremely tough and was equally as depressed and troubled. Dillon (and his relatives) was just in the wrong place at the wrongest of possible times in his life.

 

[The Merg]

Cops will still say even the body cam doesn't show the whole situation, whenever it makes them look bad.

And that's partly true. Unless you have a camera that can show every and all angles of a situation, the camera will never show the whole situation. Even in the video above, at times it is hard to see the left side of the subject and the head of the subject. Is the officer hiding something? No, but if the subject does something in that moment that you can't see it on camera, does that mean they did or did not do something?

Always on. Problem solved. BTW if "dumb easy" is the threshold of what a cop can or can not use effectively, then maybe we are ignoring the real biggest issue.

By "dumb easy", I meant that there are not hoops needed to turn the the camera on, such as open the program on the computer then hit this button or that button and then another button and so on. Basically, I one touch system. In a high-stress situation, fine motor skills diminsh.

Nice try, Exaggeration Man. Not 24/7. Only while on the clock.

I was referring to 24/7 while they were working as in just full-time while working. I didn't mean at night while they were off.

Yes, some 3rd party video technician somewhere might see you pinching your loaf whilst he is searching for the part of the vid that shows you shooting a non-seatbelt-wearing motorist just shortly after finishing said dump. Although since the camera faces away from you, he's going to see 5 min of the inside of the stall door. If that's too much for your fragile little ego, find alternate employment. You have been granted extraordinary amounts of authority, power, and trust. In exchange you're going to sacrifice some privacy on the job. That's the deal.

Yes, and you hear every sound. And it won't just be a 3rd party technician that would see it. Since the recording is one long recording, if the video is used in court, the WHOLE video from beginning to end for the entire shift would be discoverable by the defense and they would have access to it. That means that you could never have a private conversation while at work.

How many times have you had a private conversation while at work that you wouldn't want someone else to hear? That's not just some privacy, that's all your privacy. Also, the Courts have ruled that you cannot film people while in a bathroom or locker room. So, the officer goes into a public restroom and there are other people in there doing their business. How is their privacy protected?

- Merg

 

[The Merg]

NO they don't. Miami Dade Police officers are against them and so are many cops in New York and many other states. They claim that body camera's put their lives at risk. They all say it will make them too self conscious and more hesitant to act:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/...-police-union-Cameras-are-not-safe-for-police

Many of the police unions are already pushing back on the whole "body cams" thing.

Well, they are unions and unions need to argue about something. I know that the union for NYPD has a long history of arguing against things just to create tension for when it comes to discussing the contracts. In many cases, the union membership has no direct say in what the union leadership is doing.

I would say the biggest issue that cops have with cameras is the privacy issue with regard to them being recorded during private situations. The ACLU, while supporting body cams, has even rasised the question regarding privacy invasion to citizens as well as the police officers.

- Merg

 

[Newell Steamer]

Body Cam proves cop was innocent - so, now body cams are banned, if they prove a cop was innocent.

:awe:

 

[realibrad]

There are a few interesting facts that have yet to be discussed.

Police may have commanded Dillon Taylor to stop, however he was wearing earphones and possibly unable to hear them. Anyway, I won't formulate a complete opinion until the *conspicuously absent* audio data prior to the shooting is released.

Additionally, Dillon's brother and cousin overheard the cops mention the bodycam at the scene. When the Taylor family later request a viewing of the footage, the police department lie by saying the bodycam had been disengaged.

I assume police wanted to first analyze the video to make certain nothing incriminating was captured. The officers also refuse to give their names and badge numbers, which is against Utah law.

Otherwise, this appears to be another case of profiling or swatting. Police receive an elaborate 911 description of three men "obviously looking for trouble, just the way they look" waving a gun. And a 20 year-old unarmed man is shot based on this faulty intelligence.

Reading Dillon's Facebook, you can see he took his mom's recent death extremely tough and was equally as depressed and troubled. Dillon (and his relatives) was just in the wrong place at the wrongest of possible times in his life.

Apparently his head phones were not too loud as he turned around after being told to do so. He then responded to the command to take his hands out of his pants with, "No fool". Furthermore, he was not shot because of bad intelligence, he was shot for acting in a way as to make the officer believe he was pulling out a gun.

You are right that the kid was having trouble, and its sad that he did not get the help that might have saved him, but the officer was fully justified.

 

[smackababy]

NO they don't. Miami Dade Police officers are against them and so are many cops in New York and many other states. They claim that body camera's put their lives at risk. They all say it will make them too self conscious and more hesitant to act:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/...-police-union-Cameras-are-not-safe-for-police

Many of the police unions are already pushing back on the whole "body cams" thing.

That could actually be a valid argument, even if you think it is dumb. If you are approaching a suspect with what looks like a weapon and there are reports of him acting in a hostile manner, what do you do? Have to think about? Sorry, you're dead now.

I think them being self conscious will eventually be fixed, but initially, they are going to do more than just react as they are trained; at least, the older police will.

 

[highland145]

That could actually be a valid argument, even if you think it is dumb. If you are approaching a suspect with what looks like a weapon and there are reports of him acting in a hostile manner, what do you do? Have to think about? Sorry, you're dead now.

I think them being self conscious will eventually be fixed, but initially, they are going to do more than just react as they are trained; at least, the older police will.

With the number of cell phones/security cameras around they should always assume they're being recorded.

 

[smackababy]

With the number of cell phones/security cameras around they should always assume they're being recorded.

One would think so. However, having verifiable knowledge you are in front of a camera does change how people act.

For newly trained or in training officers, this shouldn't be an issue, as they are being taught to simply react while under the scrutiny of a camera. However, it could cause some current officers to hesitate in the field, and that can endanger their lives as well as those they are trying to protect.

This is something has has to be carefully handled. We want to get officers to be as comfortable as possible in regards to the cameras, so the bad ones get caught doing bad things and the good ones are able to safely perform their jobs.