Computer geek busts bad cops
Here's a troubling story out of Seattle: The police up there have been caught red-handed lying about whether they had a dashboard-camera video of a guy's arrest. They said the file had been lost or erased, but the determined suspect, who knows a thing or two about computers, proved that they were lying about that.
Since then, the charges against the fellow have been dropped, and he's suing for false arrest. But better yet, he's started up a website on which other suspects can determine whether the police are lying to them when they say no video of their arrest exists.
Do Portland-area police use in-car cameras to video their activities? We're embarrassed to say we don't know. Readers?
| Posted at 6:17 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (5)
They'd tell you but ....(we all know the punch line)
Posted by genop | October 9, 2011 6:45 AM
PPB only utilizes cameras in a couple of their traffic cars, mainly for DUI enforcement. There was something in the O awhile back that they are looking at a system like the one used in Oakland where officers actually wear a small camera and mic. Dashboard cameras are a waste of money for the most part since they only record what goes on right around the car, not what happens down the street or in a house,
Posted by NoPoGuy | October 9, 2011 8:04 AM
In a troubled city where police are corrupt or on the edge it should not be a matter of choice. Who is in charge of the police? We all know that the technology exists to outfit all of them with wireless cameras on their vests that transmit back to their cars. Just go one year without those hefty raises and pers benefits or maybe don't buy those automatic weapons this year. Here is an Idea stop buying street cars and granola bike lanes and in no time you will have an honest police force and weed out the bad apples.
Posted by Vincent | October 9, 2011 10:50 AM
They could pay for this out of the budget line that the city uses to pay for the legal defense, out-of-court settlements, and jury awards from citizens' lawsuits. If police know that they are always being recorded, most of the bad boys are going to clean it up. And there would be plenty of funds left over.
Posted by John Rettig | October 9, 2011 11:42 AM
John Rettig makes an excellent point - if our police knew they were being recorded, they'd do things right, and if anyone didn't, it would be clear to their supervisors right away, so they'd be fired. Right now, there's too much plausible deniability - everyone looks the other way.
The cams are cheap, by the way. The police wouldn't have to give up their automatic weapons or anything. The Gopro cams cost $250 each, are water and shockproof, record in HD for hours... They'd be perfect, and could be integrated into the police department within a couple weeks.
We should demand this - it would be the single fastest way to clean up the police force. It would introduce efficiency into the courts. We should demand it as citizens, since something is clearly wrong right now.
Posted by Sal | October 9, 2011 11:30 PM