For the most part I agreed with you Vermi. I was just reiterating a lot of the points but from my persective.
You were a bit vague with your response to my quote about all cops needing body cameras.
Correct, I was vague. I was vague for a reason. My opinion doesn't matter. I am a public servant. Therefore when a law/vote is passed or policy is changed I abide by that law. So while I may disagree with the future of body cameras and the way they are going to be used there's no sense in speaking out against them because they're coming.
Look up Prop 47 in California, it's a huge step back. It makes a lot of prior felonies misdemeanors. Possession of stolen guns: misdemeanor ticket, possession of controlled substance: misdemeanor ticket, grand theft person: misdemeanor ticket. Do I agree with them? No, obviously I now enforce the law as a misdemeanor ticket instead of a felony arrest.
Absent video evidence, often times issue of excessive force hinges on the testimony of the officer(s) involved. If those officers are found to have used excessive force, then their careers can suffer. Could there be a more clear case of conflict of interest? Cops are people too, as you keep reminding us, people with families who depend on their financial support. Leaving it up to their discretion on whether or not to tell the truth when their careers are at stake is simply a bad idea, because human nature relies on self-preservation.
I obviously don't know anything about the laws in other states but a pitches motion is when the defendant claims excessive force. Essentially, arguing for the judge that the officers personal file needs to be opened to see if he's had other such accusations. You get enough valid complains and your career is done.
You get caught in a lie once and you're put on the Brady list, you can never be a cop again. Those have been successful, I will never lie. I have been testifying in a jury trial and gotten my ass kicked because the public defender asked the correct questions and got a 69 PC charge dropped to a 148 PC charge. I will not lie because my career is done. I would rather a criminal go free than lose my job.
Nowadays, people are all about that immediate action. They don't want a slow drawn out process to find the truth. They want immediate video footage so they can judge for themselves and come to an incomplete but immediate opinion and see someone fired on the spot. That's why people want body cameras, but they won't provide that result that people want.
