A
dmit it – you’d love to be famous! That’s why you’re thinking that all
those special moments in your life belong on Facebook, YouTube,
Instagram and whatever the hell else exposes your sparkling personality.
You obviously DON’T like it when you’re the center of negative
attention – like so many people often are when they’re caught on camera
committing a crime or injustice. Thanks to today’s technology,
EVERYTHING is caught and videotaped on cellphones/ iPads etc., and if
you’ve committed a real crime – SMILE, you’re on candid camera and the
cops will plaster social media and the news with your image until you’re
caught.
We
love seeing good things on camera too – someone saving someone’s life
and an act of heroism - which proves that social media can help spread
awareness for something positive!
The NYPD sends out mass e-mails with criminal acts recorded on
cameras every day. One of the most shocking videos I’ve seen was footage
of a man getting shot in broad daylight in East New York
– the gunman’s face, and hand with the weapon, in clear sight.
Did this
really help them solve a crime? In many cases, I can confidently say
that video surveillance has helped solve crimes and made the course of
events leading up to the incident hard to fake. You just can’t argue
with what the hidden video camera reveals.
You can lie…reinterpret the course of events or you can defend what
“looked like” something legitimate – but if the wrong person catches you
in the act, WATCH OUT!
Sure, I’ve touched on the subject of police abusing their powers,
such as in the Eric Garner case, but now that Public Advocate Letitia
James regurgitated the idea of slapping body cameras on cops, I realized
that there’s a whole lot of doublespeak going on that I truly don’t
understand. In 2013, the New York Post
reported that “the NYPD wouldn’t implement a judge’s order to outfit
cops with surveillance cameras until it has a gun to its head.”
A couple of reports delivered by the Public Advocate made it sound
nice… saying, “Body cameras would thwart complaints against officers.”
This is one way to make it appealing to cops to have to strap a small
camera on their lapel to capture every move they make! What about
protecting the public by
capturing acts practiced by the NYPD? Let’s get real! If cops knew that
every move they made was being recorded by a little device attached to
their uniform, wouldn’t they think twice about using “unreasonable”
force and violent tactics to subdue potential criminals? Civilians are
the ones who seem to need protection – the cameras would do more good
for defending the general public than the police!
What I don’t understand is why this has to be negotiated with the
NYPD’s union. Equipping cops with cameras certainly isn’t a breach of
their privacy – cops are PUBLIC SERVANTS and everything they do, while
on duty, should be public
information. They’re patrolling our streets – patrolling events that
take place in PUBLIC. If police make an arrest, they have to read the
person their Miranda Rights – a legally mandated procedure. There are
plenty of procedural practices police are supposed to abide by (some
don’t – which is caught on civilian cameras!).
I don’t buy the excuse that officers have enough equipment on them
and that a tiny camera would “weigh” them down. The August 14, 2013 New York Post article entitled “NYPD In A ‘Snap’ Judgment”
made a claim that “additional equipment becomes an encumbrance and a
safety issue for those carrying it.” Really? If NYPD Commissioner Bill
Bratton is on board with officers having body cameras, then why make
excuses? The LAPD already has these cameras in use – so what’s our
city’s problem? If they make these body cameras small enough and capable
of withstanding all types of conditions, what’s the problem?
James says she first wants to put cameras on police officers working in the most dangerous communities in the city – including East New York’s
75th Precinct. The cost would be about $5 million and I agree with her –
the cost can be compared to how much the city has to pay in lawsuits as
a result of complaint settlements. Just last week the city settled a
wrongful death lawsuit with the family of Tamon Robinson – who was
killed by a cop car in 2012 at Bayview
houses – for $2 million. The city’s going to be paying up the
you-know-what for numerous acts of illegitimate violence practiced by
the NYPD – caught on someone else’s camera and not a cop’s!
Everyone’s safety is at risk – and not being transparent about what’s
going on to keep people safe is one of NYPD’s biggest faults, if you
ask me. But don’t ask me – ask the millions of civilians who already
have cameras on hand to capture cops at their worst moments. A picture –
and video – is worth a thousand words – or millions of dollars…
No comments:
Post a Comment