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How the NYPD defeated bodycams (pluralistic.net)

submitted 10 months ago by kpw@kbin.social to c/politics@lemmy.world

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Police boosters insist that police violence and corruption are the result of "a few bad apples." As the saying goes, "a few bad apples spoil the bushel." If you think there are just a few bad cops on the force, then you should want to get rid of them before they wreck the whole institution. Bodycams could empirically identify the bad apples, right?

Well, hypothetically. But what if police leadership don't want to get rid of the bad apples? What if the reason that dashcams, tasers, and pepper spray failed is that police leadership are fine with them? If that were the case, then bodycams would turn into just another expensive prop for an off-Broadway accountability theater.

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[-] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 33 points 10 months ago

It wouldn't be too hard to create a system that records everything the cop does... and transmit it to a storage facility in which that specific cop has no ability to delete would be simple. Incredibly simple.

the idea that a cop gets to choose what the body camera records and that it was a failure of the camera is an intentional narrative to protect bad cops. normal americans live under constant scrutiny (not just by cops, but by everyone.)... they should have more, not less.

[-] ryannathans@aussie.zone 4 points 10 months ago

Oops forgot to wear it

[-] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 13 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

First offense, 72 hour unpaid leave. And better hope there’s no complaints because not wearing it is reasonable suspicion.

Second offense? Goodbye.

(And this is why I’m all for spending hikes for cops. Improved recruiting means better ability to fire shitty cops. Oh, that and better training in how to not kill people, and stuff.) (it’s really too bad that cops go and spend all that funding in armored tanks, and stuff…)

[-] doeknius_gloek@feddit.de 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

First offense, 72 hour unpaid leave. And better hope there’s no complaints because not wearing it is reasonable suspicion.

Second offense? Goodbye.

That's the key. You can do a lot with technology, but many problems are not solvable with technology alone.

It does not matter how safe or reliable bodycams work if there are no repercussions for not wearing or disabling them. But since american cops are not even held accountable if they straight up murder people, nobody should be surprised that bodycams "don't work" in a system like this.

[-] jayrhacker@kbin.social 18 points 10 months ago

"we shouldn't let a few good apples exonerate the whole bushel"

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago

I said this in a similar thread this morning- body cams don't matter if the system works always in your favor.

this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2023

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