Earlier this week, after an inquest jury essentially vindicated London police officers in the 2011 killing of 29 year old Mark Duggan, authorities announced that, henceforth, some number of London’s 2,300 firearms-carrying officers would begin wearing vest-mounted video cameras. And, as much as I consider myself a privacy advocate, and despise our ever expanding surveillance culture, I think it’s a great idea that we need to pursue more aggressively in the United States. Those individuals among us who have it within their power to dispense lethal force, should, in my opinion, be aggressively monitored. And, in instances where complete audio or video documentation of arrests does not exist, prosecutions should be tossed out. It’s the only way, I think, for us to counter the increasing militarization of our local police forces and the growing tendency to employ excessive force in instances where it’s not warranted.
Here, with more about the London announcement, is a clip from ABC News:
…Speaking late Wednesday, Metropolitan (London) Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe said the camera experiment was an attempt to improve transparency and restore public trust in the force. It would allow jurors and judges literally to see events from an officer’s perspective.
“We want to see if this is an effective way to record evidence and ensure public confidence,” he said in a statement.
A police spokesman said Thursday that armed officers will begin wearing recording devices April 1. The number of officers set to wear the cameras has yet to be decided.
Police forces across the world have been experimenting with portable cameras as tools for crime-fighting and police accountability. Cameras mounted on glasses, helmets, or vests are being trialed or distributed across the U.S. Several police forces across the U.K. are also trying out the devices…
According to recently published studies, vest-mounted cameras actually work. They not only improve accountability, and increase public confidence, but their use results in decreased violence. Minneapolis City Councilman Gary Schiff, when recently announcing a test in his city, noted the following. “We see, in cities like Rialto, California, an 88% drop in complaints against officers who are wearing cameras, and a 60% drop in use of force,” he said. “That means less opportunity that something could go wrong.” (In Minneapolis, they’ll be spending $400,000 to outfit two thirds of their police force with body cameras in 2014.)
Here, with more on the results in Rialto, California, where body cameras have been extensively tested, is an excerpt from an article published by the Police Foundation.
Police Foundation Executive Fellow, Chief Tony Farrar, recently completed an extensive yearlong study to evaluate the effect of body-worn video cameras on police use-of-force. This randomized controlled trail represents the first experimental evaluation of body-worn video cameras used in police patrol practices. Cameras were deployed to all patrol officers in the Rialto (CA) Police Department. Every police patrol shift during the 12-month period was assigned to experimental or control conditions.
Wearing cameras was associated with dramatic reductions in use-of-force and complaints against officers. The authors conclude: “The findings suggest more than a 50% reduction in the total number of incidents of use-of-force compared to control-conditions, and nearly ten times more citizens’ complaints in the 12-months prior to the experiment.”
We applaud Chief Farrar for his commitment to conducting rigorous scientific research on a technology initiative that has broad implications for the field of policing…
The full report, which was coauthored by Cambridge University’s Barak Ariel, can be found here.
NOTE: For those of you who don’t think there’s a need here in Ypsilanti, I’d remind you of the case of David Ware.
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It’s worth noting that some have been fighting tooth and nail against implementation, like Michael Bloomberg. The following is from the New York Times.
The facts don’t lie. The more you watch them, the less they behave like they’re on the streets of Falluah.
Less force. Less escalation. Less death.
Here’s more on the Rialto experiment from Atlantic Cities:
This sentence alone should be enough to bring this technology to every police force in America: “Officers wearing cameras never instigated violence.”
Read more:
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/technology/2013/09/camera-weighs-less-4-ounces-and-can-reduce-complaints-against-police-80-percent/7036/
How much do units cost, if a district wanted to test one them out? And how much data infrastructure storage would one need? I’m assuming that you would d have to keep all of the video for an extended period of time, but maybe that infrastructure already exists in most departments, as dashboard cameras are quite common these days. It does seem, however, that you’d need to add a staff position to log the film and manage the archive.
Has the Fraternal Order of Police weighed in? I have to imagine that they’d fight the hell out of this. No one wants to be watched doing his job.
Try to videotape a cop “doing his job”. I dare you.
I don’t generally agree that having cameras everywhere watching everyone all the time will make us any safer — but given the demanding and often fraught nature of police work, I think this is a good idea.
As the article seems to indicate, it seems this would not only protect members of the public from potential police abuses, it would also protect police officers against unwarranted charges of abuse.
Durham, NC: regarding the death of Jesus Huerta, who police say shot himself in the head after being frisked, handcuffed behind the back, and placed in the back of the police cruiser:
“His [the officer’s] car had a video camera that was not on at the time of the incident, the report said.”
Funny how often cameras are not functioning properly when there’s a questionable situation.
Yes.
That’s why I said up front, Mr. Farts, that any case where officers can’t present unedited video of the event should be thrown out.
Even when there’s video, it may not change anything.
Read more:
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/01/14/3158301/kelly-thomas-murder-verdict/
YPSI POLICE DEPARTMENT MOVING FORWARD ON BODY CAMERAS
Chief DeGiusti has recommended the purchase of fifteen body cameras in conjunction with an upgrade of the Departments in car cameras and data storage system. Body cameras can be a useful tool in helping protect the public against police misconduct as well as helping protect police officers against false accusations of abuse. But there needs to be well-thought out policies developed and enforced on their use. From the Department of Justuce Report:
“When implemented correctly, body-worn cameras can help strengthen the policing profession.These cameras can help promote agency accountability and transparency, and they can be useful tools for increasing officer professionalism, improving officer training, preserving evidence, and documenting encounters with the public. However, they also raise issues as a practical matter and at the policy level, both of which agencies must thoughtfully examine. Police agencies must determine what adopting body-worn cameras will mean in terms of police-community relationships, privacy, trust and legitimacy, and internal procedural justice for officers.”
Full Reort:
http://ric-zai-inc.com/Publications/cops-p296-pub.pdf
There may soon be body cameras on Ypsilanti officers.
Read more:
http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2014/12/ypsilanti_police_chief_request.html
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