this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2023
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This article is from 2017. However, its claims from back then do seem to be supported (that body camera’s wont change much)
https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/research-body-worn-cameras-and-law-enforcement
The problem is the court system, not the cameras. We still need the cameras to know when the crimes against citizens occur. We just need to fix the system that punishes them for it.
This is a silly statement. Bodycams aren't just "cameras". They are cameras whose physical operation is 100% under the control of the cops, and whose footage is 95% under the control of the cops, 99% in control of the criminal injustice system generally, and 1% in the control of defense lawyers and the general public in the most extreme of circumstances when we can actually force its release despite the fact that it's not likely to benefit the cops.
Bodycams are another weapon used against us. The cameras which have a chance of changing things are those which we have a chance in hell of actually controlling ourselves. Cell phone cameras have done far more for us than any increase in the surveillance state—including and especially bodycams—ever will.
All that said, it’s better to have them then to not have them. What would be the point of removing them? It’s just another possible data point.
No, it is absolutely, 100%, unequivocally worse to have them than to not have them. Almost all of their use is the cops gathering more evidence against people, NOT us being able to use them as evidence against cops. You have no idea how much of the use of bodycams YOU aren't seeing, because it is all within the halls of the police stations, the court houses, and the rest of the criminal injustice system. No. Get rid of them, along with every single other weapon, tool, and resource the cops have.