Thursday, December 04, 2014

Please! No body cameras for police.


Following the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, MO, there is a loud hue and cry for the police to wear body cameras. "If the policeman had been wearing a body camera, we would have known exactly what happened", they insist.

Wishful thinking.

The Staten Island event which preceeded the death of Eric Garner, is hard evidence that body cameras would never tell us "exactly what happened".

In this case, the media and many individuals are insisting that officer Daniel Pantaleo used a choke-hold on Garner resulting in his death. Pantaleo says he did not use a choke hold, the Grand Jury did not think he used a choke-hold, nor did Staten Island D.A. Dan Donovan.

I have watched that video several times and I find it impossible to determine exactly what Officer Pantaleo did... from the video.

Most often, "hidden cameras", dash cameras - even body cameras deliver a picture that is out-of-frame, out-of-focus, or, more commonly, simply at the wrong angle to show the details we seek.

I am reminded of the oft-used challenge to an official's call in an NFL game. In the chaos of a play, an official near the play announces what happened. From the far edge of the field, coaches believe they saw something else, so the call is challenged.

Then, the video of the play is reviewed, usually as shot by more than one camera, from more than one location, and probably always in slow motion. And remember, that video was shot by a professional cameraman using very expensive professional equipment.

More often than not, the call made by the official on the field is sustained.

In the Staten island case, that cell phone video might well lead to additional, unwarranted charges against Officer Pantaleo.

Could there be an inept official calling NFL plays? Yes, but rarely. Could there be a police officer using prohibited tactics and lying about it? Yes, but rarely.

The odds are with the NFL official - and the police officer. Not what we might see with a small, relatively inexpensive body camera.     

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