Now Obama is going to let you pay for Body Cams for Cops

[DaveTN]

A grand jury found no reason to charge Darren Wilson in the Ferguson, Mo., shooting death of black teenager Michael Brown, but that won’t stop President Obama from pretending that the white police officer did something wrong.
 
On Monday, the White House pledged $263 million in new federal funding for 50,000 body cameras, additional police training and outreach efforts designed to build trust between police departments and minority communities.
 
“The president and his administration are very focused on the underlying issues that have been uncovered in a pretty raw way in Ferguson,” said White House press secretary Josh Earnest. But if the president was really focused on “underlying issues,” he’d be leading a national conversation about the violent anti-social behavior in poor black neighborhoods that better explains the police presence. Instead, Mr. Obama seems much more focused on furthering an anti-cop media narrative that aligns with a liberal political narrative and maintains that black America’s failures are the fault of others.

Read the rest here....
http://online.wsj.com/articles/political-diary-obamas-body-cameras-1417473282

I wonder how many departments will want this and what strings will be attached to it.

[vontar]

I want body cams and live streams from all the Heads of state in DC.  

 

.

Edited December 1, 2014 by vontar

[Randall53]

I'm not an LEO, but I'm in favor of the cams no matter who buys them. If I was an LEO, I'd definitely want one on me. I think it'll save a huge pile of money by eliminating law suits and stop the kind of crap that's been going on all over the country in recent months. That's MHO.

 

Edited after reading Vontars post:

 

I'd love to see body cams with audio and video on every member of the congress and senate during their waking hours. I bet that'd be real hoot.

Edited December 1, 2014 by Randall53

[Grand Torino]

I want body cams and live streams from all the Heads of state in DC.  

 

.

They are the biggest liars and crooks in the country.......best idea I've heard in years.

[TripleDigitRide]

Body cameras should be a non-issue for officers who aren't doing anything wrong. A body camera would have been extremely helpful in the Ferguson situation. 

[vontar]

Body cameras should be a non-issue for officers who aren't doing anything wrong. A body camera would have been extremely helpful in the Ferguson situation. 

I did think all had dash cameras until this.

A dash camera would have been helpful.

 

Here in Oak Ridge I have been in the car, lights on, officer out with a subject and I could ever every word he and the subject said as it was being recorded.

[DaveTN]

Body cameras should be a non-issue for officers who aren't doing anything wrong. A body camera would have been extremely helpful in the Ferguson situation.

To me that sounds like saying you should let the cops search your car if you have nothing to hide. Cops have a right to privacy too. Personal conversations go on, tempers sometimes flair on calls, I was a good cop and I wouldn’t want one. Yes, I have said things that would probably have gotten me in trouble had they been recorded.

You get tired of fighting all sides; I can see why they have a hard time getting good cops anymore. It will be like the reason we can’t get a good President; anyone that would be good at the job doesn’t want it.

[bersaguy]

I just saw on CBS Nightly News that a company has designed a device that fits in the holster and on the gun that will notify dispatch that an officer has drawn his weapon and dispatch will automatically send back up. It will also signal if the officer has discharged his weapon, how many rounds  the officer has fired and the interval at which each round was fired and all of that data is stored for future information if needed. It is in use right now in a few cities in California......................... :ugh: :ugh:

[mikegideon]

To me that sounds like saying you should let the cops search your car if you have nothing to hide. Cops have a right to privacy too. Personal conversations go on, tempers sometimes flair on calls, I was a good cop and I wouldn’t want one. Yes, I have said things that would probably have gotten me in trouble had they been recorded.

You get tired of fighting all sides; I can see why they have a hard time getting good cops anymore. It will be like the reason we can’t get a good President; anyone that would be good at the job doesn’t want it.

 

I'm pretty sure Darren Wilson was a good cop. Don't blame him at all for giving it up. 

[DaveTN]

I just saw on CBS Nightly News that a company has designed a device that fits in the holster and on the gun that will notify dispatch that an officer has drawn his weapon and dispatch will automatically send back up. It will also signal if the officer has discharged his weapon, how many rounds  the officer has fired and the interval at which each round was fired and all of that data is stored for future information if needed. It is in use right now in a few cities in California......................... :ugh: :ugh:

I don’t see anything wrong with that. As long as it’s something that couldn’t hamper the use of the weapon.

[DaveTN]

I'm pretty sure Darren Wilson was a good cop. Don't blame him at all for giving it up.

That was pretty much a given; he would be more of a target than normal.

I don’t blame him either. His state all the way up to the President and Attorney General turned their back on him to side with a thug that just committed robbery and assault and probably was trying to kill him.

[eRay]

Just when I thought Obama would never have an idea that I agree with.

[mikegideon]

That was pretty much a given; he would be more of a target than normal.

I don’t blame him either. His state all the way up to the President and Attorney General turned their back on him to side with a thug that just committed robbery and assault and probably was trying to kill him.

 

You know how thugs are. They stick together.

[jacob]

It's amazing to me the amount of rhetoric being tossed around by these so called leaders with obviously violent undertones....wonder why they aren't being labeled as "domestic terrorists"?

[TripleDigitRide]

To me that sounds like saying you should let the cops search your car if you have nothing to hide. Cops have a right to privacy too. Personal conversations go on, tempers sometimes flair on calls, I was a good cop and I wouldn’t want one. Yes, I have said things that would probably have gotten me in trouble had they been recorded.

You get tired of fighting all sides; I can see why they have a hard time getting good cops anymore. It will be like the reason we can’t get a good President; anyone that would be good at the job doesn’t want it.

I definitely understand both sides, but many people work in places/situations where there's little to no privacy for employees. Police officers wouldn't be the first employees to have their movements video and/or audio recorded. I'm not sure how a body camera would be much different from the dash cam or audio recorders some police are already required to wear. 

[Chucktshoes]

To me that sounds like saying you should let the cops search your car if you have nothing to hide. Cops have a right to privacy too. Personal conversations go on, tempers sometimes flair on calls, I was a good cop and I wouldn’t want one. Yes, I have said things that would probably have gotten me in trouble had they been recorded.

You get tired of fighting all sides; I can see why they have a hard time getting good cops anymore. It will be like the reason we can’t get a good President; anyone that would be good at the job doesn’t want it.

He is a private citizen going about his own business and therefore entitled to his privacy. He owes nothing to the government. The officer is on the public payroll and supposed to be going about the public's business. SCOTUS has already ruled that officers have no expectation of privacy under those conditions, hence why citizens have the right to film and record officers and struck down laws to the contrary.

[bersaguy]

I don’t see anything wrong with that. As long as it’s something that couldn’t hamper the use of the weapon.

 

They interviewed several officers that have tested them on the ranges and all of the reports on the items were positive and had zero effect on the firearm operation at all and they were all in favor of it because it relieves the officer in a serious situation that does not have time to radio for back up because the dispatcher has the exact location of the gun out of the holster to send back up to.

[Sam1]

I'm for tax money going to this. There's a lot more to the story with these edited youtube freedom fighter/anti cop videos and these will make sure another POV is available.

M. Brown's case would be a lot different if his thuggery was caught on cam.

[vontar]

I'm for tax money going to this. There's a lot more to the story with these edited youtube freedom fighter/anti cop videos and these will make sure another POV is available.

M. Brown's case would be a lot different if his thuggery was caught on cam.

It was in the convenient store.

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/ferguson-police-release-surveillance-video-related-to-michael-brown-shooting/

[Ugly]

I'm for tax money going to this. There's a lot more to the story with these edited youtube freedom fighter/anti cop videos and these will make sure another POV is available.

M. Brown's case would be a lot different if his thuggery was caught on cam.

They'll still edit it for general release.

[Pain103]

 I've never had a problem with video cameras. I've had several over the years in my cars and they have cleared me of BS complaints every time and also been handy as evidence. But now I don't have one and actually miss it with the crap growing and many people lately are playing the race card right off the bat on a traffic stop and it's getting old quick. I like the idea of body cameras and I'm planning on buying one but there are just a few things that I worry about. The first is the federal government has no business in this issue, this is between the agencies, staff, and governement body. Second is the durability of the cameras, how much abuse can they take? Can it hold up to fighting a crazy drunk or a guy coked out or on synthetics? The cameras in the cars avoid the physical contact but only show things in the view of the car.

 

 I've been reading several article and research papers by people to include the ACLU about body cameras recently due to preparing to buy one. The current thing is they all cry we must wear them but the same time they say we shouldn't record other people with them stating people have expectation of privacy. Yes you do generally in a non public setting but how do keep video of victims recorded on these from being released under the FOIA? I'm all for the FOIA and hey you wan't my paperwork or video have at it but would you want the face of a rape victim or the video of dead people from a crash to be avaliable for all to see? Just a thought and it seems like there is no gray area either all or non of it. Film me all you want while I'm working but don't blame me when your camera breaks from my ugly mug.

[mikegideon]

It's not hard to make cameras real durable these days. It's also not hard to make them pretty cheap.

[btq96r]

This is a far better investment of federal funding to local departments than giving them MRAP's or other military grade equipment for any whimsical cause.

 

 

To me that sounds like saying you should let the cops search your car if you have nothing to hide. Cops have a right to privacy too. Personal conversations go on, tempers sometimes flair on calls, I was a good cop and I wouldn’t want one. Yes, I have said things that would probably have gotten me in trouble had they been recorded.

You get tired of fighting all sides; I can see why they have a hard time getting good cops anymore. It will be like the reason we can’t get a good President; anyone that would be good at the job doesn’t want it.

 

As others have said, the expectations of privacy are different when you are a public servant.  If an officer can't meet the standards for interacting with the public, respecting their rights, ect, they don't deserve their pay.  I get that it's not easy to be a cop, and hiring good cops is getting more difficult, but standards need to be upheld across the board.  These cameras are a good way to help identify the bad ones who need to go, and make sure the good ones aren't given a bad rap.

[TN-popo]

I just saw on CBS Nightly News that a company has designed a device that fits in the holster and on the gun that will notify dispatch that an officer has drawn his weapon and dispatch will automatically send back up. It will also signal if the officer has discharged his weapon, how many rounds  the officer has fired and the interval at which each round was fired and all of that data is stored for future information if needed. It is in use right now in a few cities in California......................... :ugh: :ugh:

 

 

I don’t see anything wrong with that. As long as it’s something that couldn’t hamper the use of the weapon.

 

I do  (I just saw the same news story).

Just wait for it to become law that to own a firearm, you have to have one of these installed on YOUR gun.

After some LE beta-testing, that's the next step down the road of "reasonableness" and the tracking may not stop there.

 

I'm not normally a tinfoil hat guy, but the technology is already there and making these mandatory for gun owners is not that big of a stretch in some jurisdictions. 

Edited December 2, 2014 by TN-popo

[Ugly]

We seem to be overlooking the fact that this idea is based on a false premise, as with all things lefty. Cameras to fix a problem that isnt a problem won't fix the problem. A false narrative will always be false. 

 

Maybe wapo has a good idea

 

 

"Three Reasons Why Black Men Should Openly Carry a Gun After Trayvon, Ferguson and John Crawford"

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/h-a-goodman/three-reasons-why-black-m_b_6245962.html?&ir=Black+Voices&ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000051