Last month the CPD [Chicago Police Department] found that 80 percent of its 850 dash cams do not record audio, and 12 percent don’t record video either. The CPD has blamed the failures on "operator error or in some cases intentional destruction," and a close reading of that review by DNAinfo Chicago reveals the extent of the latter. Officers frequently tampered with dash cams, stashing microphones in their glove boxes or pulling out batteries. Some dash cams were found with their antennae deliberately destroyed, and others had had their microphones removed altogether.More information at NY Magazine, via the Reddit discussion thread.
DNAinfo also describes a months-long repair time for dash cams that experienced “intentional destruction.” For example: Jason Van Dyke, the officer who shot and killed McDonald and has been charged with first-degree murder, brought in his dash cam in early 2014 to have a wiring problem fixed, and got it back three months later, on June 17. The very next day, the dash cam was broken again. This time it took until October 8 to fix what appeared to be intentional damage. Less than two weeks later, his dash-cam footage of the McDonald shooting (which differs from the viral video we all saw) had no sound. Police records show that the microphones in his car had never been synced up to the camera.
28 January 2016
Some Chicago police officers sabotage their dashcams
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I read in the newspapers that New Zealand has slipped to the fourth least corrupted country in the world, however, I rely on my dashcam for many things, the main one being idiot drivers, in that the dashcam proves my innocence, should I have an accident. The second reason is when pulled over by the police, I want to have a record of what is said. Believing that one has to inform another party with regards recording a conversation, I do so, and so far (based on the 4 times I have been pulled over in the last 2 years) 50% of the police officers have objected strongly to my recording them. I simply turn the car off and then turn the ignition on again. Our police do not carry guns, so it is possible to have a discussion with them, without having to have cap in hand.
ReplyDeleteAs a U.S.A. citizen I am terrified of our police. And I am white.
DeleteThen don't read the story linked here -
Deletehttps://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/434kpw/fresno_police_accountability_activist_predicts/
I don't trust the cops any further than I can throw them. I'm also white but I don't think that confers any extra protection to me -- I just don't have that target that darker skin gives you.
ReplyDeletewhat's that line from 'casablanca': "I'm shocked, shocked to find that police officers are disabling their body cams!".
ReplyDeleteI-)
I am also white, and am also terrified of the police. Maybe your father terrified no one, but just maybe he did, YOU DO NOT KNOW. Yes, there are good police officers, but unfortunately there are also bad police officers, and all too often, the "good" police officers fail to do everything in their power to get the bad police officers off of the street, but cover for them, and let them keep working as a police officer.
ReplyDeleteI would never have suspected. /sarcasm. Seems this officer was well aware he had a serious problem controlling himself while in a position of authority. Shameful
ReplyDeletethey are running tests with bodycams on police officers in Germany. Because of drunk arseholes, mostly and to collect evidence. The cams get activated by pressing a big button, and the police officer tells the person they are interacting with that they are activating it. On TV, when they showed it, the difference was like day and night in behavior.
ReplyDeleteAgain, this is civilians that for whatever reason (showing off to their friends? drunk stupidity?) act aggressively towards police, NOT to keep the cops in check.
Fun fact of the day: In a normal year, all of the German police force fires less than 100 bullets. As in 'all 240 000 police officers together fired less than 100 bullets, more than half of the shots were warning shots'.
Original Source (for 2011): http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/polizei-schoss-2011-seltener-im-dienst-a-832037.html