> In fact, if my impression of the news is correct, police body cams do more to protect the police from unjustified charges of abuse than they do to protect the victims of police abuse.
This is how they're marketed to police departments, not as cameras that keep cops honest, but as cameras that keep the public from lying about police misconduct. It plays into the trope that is popular with law enforcement, that misconduct doesn't exist, it's just the whiny public and their lawyers who are victimizing cops.
That's why the cameras have buttons that allow cops to turn them off, and why they also often have buttons that require the cops to first turn them on themselves before interactions. Some of them even have buttons that, when pushed, turn the camera on for only 30 seconds.
If the cameras were meant to keep cops honest, those features wouldn't exist. Body cameras are not about documenting potential misconduct, they're about documenting evidence that can later be used against the public in court.
This is how they're marketed to police departments, not as cameras that keep cops honest, but as cameras that keep the public from lying about police misconduct. It plays into the trope that is popular with law enforcement, that misconduct doesn't exist, it's just the whiny public and their lawyers who are victimizing cops.
That's why the cameras have buttons that allow cops to turn them off, and why they also often have buttons that require the cops to first turn them on themselves before interactions. Some of them even have buttons that, when pushed, turn the camera on for only 30 seconds.
If the cameras were meant to keep cops honest, those features wouldn't exist. Body cameras are not about documenting potential misconduct, they're about documenting evidence that can later be used against the public in court.