Not only would this protect innocent citizens from the abuses of bad cops, but it would protect good cops from the claims of bad citizens who falsely accuse them of wrongdoing.

Not only are we seeing just how widespread and common these abuses are, but the current climate has the public quick to accuse and to raise a stink about cases where they have no standing.

A body cam might have prevented the Ferguson riots and all the aftermath (since the cop was exonerated in that case) just as it might have prevented the cop in SC from shooting a fleeing motorist in the back.

Here at home, though, it would have prevented an otherwise outstanding young cop from being raked over the coals for a non-lethal takedown which resulted in the death of a 90 something year old crazy guy. (His injuries would not have been fatal but the guy and his family all refused medical attention)

Of course it would be an expense to arm all cops with cams but I feel the good this would do both cops and the public would far outweigh what it would cost to buy them.

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You have any idea how bad this paragraph reads? A takedown of a 90 year old crazy guy? What kind of threat does a 90 year old man pose that he would need to be taken down? Did he have a gun in his hand?

But you are right, this country has a major problem on its hands. When I see ordinary police officers armed in full riot gear and use the military's leftover tanks, then it isn't a protect and serve unit anymore. It would be more comparable to the Gestapo.

The other problem with the police of this country is the statistical evidence of their racism, and the dual justice system we have: one for wealthy white people and their shithead kids, and the other for people in poverty and people of color.

Olhoss, we have a lot of bad, less than intelligent cops in this country. It probably has a lot to do with the compensation they receive and the demographic of people the get applying for the jobs.

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The amount of good officers we have vastly outweigh the few bad ones. Thing is, are you going to read a headline about an officer who bought a single parent a car seat or you gonna read about the officer who was raping prostitutes? Which one is has more shock value to the reader? That's the problem we have.

It's no different than life in general. The amount of good people in this world drastically outweigh the wastes of skin who have nothing better to do than ruin others joy. There are actually people who have to put others down just feel any ounce of good about themselves.


We have too many laws and that makes it harder on the officers and citizens for that matter. And the laws we have, the punishment is being grouped with other "law breakers" to whom you can compare notes with!! Incarceration should be more rehabilitating/educating than what we have today.

But alas, how much MONEY can be made off rehabilitating or educating people?

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Agree, cops need to have body cams for their protection as well as the public. Would any of us like having a camera and recording everything you do or say throughout your work day. Would be nice if there was a way for the cameras to be activated by the dispatchers when the officer responds to a call. And to be able to disable recording when not on a call.

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Reliability of these systems and maintenance will be key. They need to be rock-solid enough so that...
1. Cops know these are recording at all times and know what to and when to check functionality
2. If the body cams mysteriously don't record/malfunction there's increased scrutiny and not shrugging over "technical difficulties"

Just more evidence that the return to investment for companies in "police-state" industries is likely to continue to grow...

(sigh)

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