Quote from: Dick Valentine on April 11, 2015, 09:31:49 AM

Quote from: bryant.coleman on April 10, 2015, 04:39:57 AM

Quote from: Cryptowatch.com on April 10, 2015, 12:50:56 AM

I'm not usually for mass surveillance, but I've seen reports of successfully altered behavior by cops who wear body cameras. Perhaps it would be a good idea to have all cops wear such cameras as a mandatory prop as long as they're on duty.

It is a good suggestion to keep the cops under surveillance. But is it practical to make all of them wear body cams? The initial cost, as well as maintenance will be huge. And there is no guarantee that they will not damage / tweak them. Also we need more manpower to manually monitor all of them.

Is it practical to give them all guns and tasers and pepper spray. Cameras are badly needed to stop them from murdering innocent people or just straight up abusing their powers. I'm not from the states but even in my country the cops abuse their powers and hassle you for no good reason. Of course you must comply and if you give them any attitude back they just abuse their power even more to hassle you further. Cameras will really keep them in check and help them with their own safety as well as others.

What do you think about wearing your own personal body camera, perhaps even concealed. And perhaps also in the car. Would it be foolish to reveal this fact to the officers stopping you. For instance:

"There're numerous cameras here, all recording live to an internet feed, everything you do will be monitored and recorded, and any breach of the law will be prosecuted to the maximum extent possible".

I guess that would be showing attitude.. Some cops might be scared off, others might shoot you, I don't know.

I do know for a fact that treating people badly does not yield respect. If a person is treated with respect, he will give respect back. Not all people are good people, some are low life scum that deserve to be in jail, but even a thief does not deserve to be shot in the back.

Also, corruption and power abuse will erode the trust the general public has with the police. So, instead of calling the police when something is wrong, you hesitate and rather walk away, because you cannot be sure what the outcome will be if you make the call, maybe you are the one that ends up with trouble.

I assume the only sane way to behave when you're stopped by police is to comply and smile, as anything else might end you in jail, even if it's not justified at all. In my view, the fact that officers can use deadly force against people "that do not comply" is very very wrong. Esp. when a suspect is under control, there's no need to further attack him.

That being said, being a police officer is no joke, and they put their lifes in danger every day, but they should protect the public and not be an aggressor, which seems to often be the case, unfortunately. Accountability is important for being able to keep them in check. If a cop goes out of line, there's nothing to stop him except his own conscience, and if he does not have that, there's nothing to stop him.

Police departments and police academies gets their funding and guidelines from politicians. There is enough knowledge and experience in the world today to create a better police force, and to screen candidates, such that candidates that are not fit will be rejected, also there must be some kind of continuing monitoring to ensure a good cop does not turn into a bad cop.

Too often it seems like the police are most concerned with protecting themselves and not the public. When there's no willingness to let bad actions have consequences, then there will be no change. It seems to me that changes today happens mostly after a lot of pressure, esp. in the press. Politicians and high ranking officials "need to act" to show strength once something comes out in the press. So the press becomes a force that pressure the officials to act better, not because they genuinely want to, but because they do not want to lose face.

Of course there's many good people in the police and law enforcement agencies, who's only concerned about doing "the right thing", but the bad apples spoils the whole bunch.