Bodycam video leads to dropped charges for local men accused of resisting arrest

https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2020/06/20/days-after-officer-body-cam-video-was-publicized-contra-costa-da-drops-charges-against-richmond-men-accused-of-resisting-arrest/

by MilnerRoute • 6 years ago

22 5 6 years ago

eastbaytimes.com

hirundo2• 6 years ago

Somebody please build coptube.com, where each bodycam is a channel, broadcast after after some fixed delay, e.g. eight hours, with civilian faces and license plates auto-blurred. Aggregate public votes for things like unnecessary-use-of-force, random-acts-of-kindness, cowardice, heroism, conflict escalation, de-escalation, etc. Have leader boards for each category, and for combined positive and negative cop behaviors, with user funded prizes for positive leaders or outstanding acts.

Then there's just the tiny political problem of getting police departments and unions to sign up. Now, while cities around the country are reinventing their police, is a particularly good time for that. With just one metropolitan department on board, like Minneapolis, Seattle or Atlanta, it could be a viable service.

schwap• 6 years ago

It's not that simple. Hypothetically, I beat my wife. The neighbors call the police. Now I can find out what my wife may have told the police in confidence.

hirundo2• 6 years ago

The lips are blurred with the face, and it would still be useful without sound.

eesmith• 6 years ago

View this through the "defund" movement.

What information is she giving the police in confidence, and why?

Why did the neighbors call the police, rather than a 911 service which can dispatch a perhaps more appropriate response?

What training do the police have on handling domestic violence? Why not send a counselor, who doesn't carry a gun?

What is the long-term goal - stop this specific act, or stop the long-term domestic abuse? Are the police also able to handle the latter?

Why is your wife staying with you? Is there an economic or emotional dependency which can be better addressed by, eg, a stronger social safety net and spousal abuse shelters? Is there a social stigma against her leaving? Is there social pressure for you to beat her?

Bodycams don't solve the problem of a thoroughly corrupt police system. Max Headroom's dystopia was optimistic.

compsciphd• 6 years ago

what I'm thinking is just the opposite. need civilian bodycams / car cams that can be triggered to record easily and directly store to the cloud over a paired cell phone connection. perhaps in a loop so you only have a few hours of recording.

If something happens that matters, you can have it be saved more long term, but to prevent voyeurism, the record would only be available by subpoena (i.e. you couldn't view it directly, but would have to request a subpoena for your own record)

i.e. one needs to create a world where cops know they can always be recorded.

Bodycam video leads to dropped charges for local men accused of resisting arrest

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