Cameras strapped to LEO's? Good idea?

Boma · Post by **Boma** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 6:50 pm

AS we all know their cruisers have cameras to provide evidence, but what if they had a small camera on their body that they could activate? That would help them have evidence to use against all those people blaming the cops that their innocent son got killed.

G.C.Montgomery · Post by **G.C.Montgomery** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 2:41 am

There are officers who would happily embrace such an idea provided you find a way to do this without adding to the bazillion pounds of junk already attached to the "Bat Belt." Understandably, most don't want any extra weight contributing to their all too common back problems.

At the same time, there are officers who hated the idea of putting cameras in cars. As I can remember my dad telling me, "...cameras may not lie, but they don't always tell the whole story..." Some times, detaining and arresting people gets ugly. Things happen that the average person would find offensive/wrong because it's seen out of context. So again, I can easily see officers resisting the concept for fear the video would only be used against them.

Post by **carlson1** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 2:45 am

I would have not wanted in my day as a LEO and I am also glad they were not in the cars.

longtooth · Post by **longtooth** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 7:07 am

Dont they have enough gear to carry now?

seamusTX · Post by **seamusTX** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 8:15 am

I suspect the video obtained from a body-mounted camera would be worse than "The Blair Witch Project," and the lawyers would be arguing about what it really showed. It would be an interesting experiment. Anyone with the time, a PC, and an extra $100 could try it.

Cameras are quite small and light nowadays, though I don't know how that kind of camera would hold up to being worn on the body.

- Jim

jbirds1210 · Post by **jbirds1210** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 9:02 am

I spent a great deal of time working for the prison system in front of a video camera.

I fully support every bit of technology being used to capture video. The camera seems to exploit certain things because it is unable to capture all of the body language from any party. I feel that a camera at all times during police activity would protect citizens and police. If there is nothing to hide...there is nothing to worry about.
Jason

Greybeard · Post by **Greybeard** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 9:27 am

Many already carry tape recorders (that can work BOTH ways).

casselthief · Post by **casselthief** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 2:36 pm

no more unzipping your blouse to get outta a ticket!!!

srsly, I think this is a good idea, but I personally think it would need to be mounted on a hat or something to be high enough to capture all of the body language, and they you have to worry about microphones and what-have-ya.

cyphur · Post by **cyphur** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 3:57 pm

Its a tough call. I'd personally prefer the police to step over the line in rare cases to get bad guys off the street then have to "catch" themselves because they fear for their job safety.

If everyone was reasonable and could thing logically, seeing things things fairly from all perspectives, I would fully support this initiative. However, there are too many folks who think criminals deserve breakfast in bed, HBO and fair treatment to consider it. Too many problems could arise from it, unless there were strict laws forbidding prosecution of a cop for anything but the most heinous greivences, and lending them full immunity from civil suits in the same.

MTICop · Post by **MTICop** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 12:15 am

I don't really see how it would help enough to matter. No matter how much money you spend on a "state-of-the-art" camera system, the view is limited by distance. Although you maintain a reactionary gap as much as possible, that distance can close at any second. Furthermore, the cameras are limited by focus. This will give you a blurred picture of what is happening. Placing this thing could be a nightmare to be able to get a "shot" at what is going on in the incident in focus as the camera would always be trying to focus on something different in a confrontation. I just can't see it being worthwhile on anything other than proving someone getting a speeding ticket was disrespectful to the patrolman. I can't see it being effective either way in a rough situation.