3 easy steps to "fix" our police problem

[SoCalDem]

1. body cams that are live-streamed to an outside-the police- data collection site..and cannot be turned off..

2. cameras on "suspects/pick ups/arrestees" at ALL TIMES...in the van/ in the car/ in the booking/questioning/cells..everywhere...

3. 1 month mandatory suspension WITHOUT PAY for ALL responding officers if the detainee is injured/killed. During that month an OUTSIDE investigation should be done, and if they are truly vindicated. their pay is returned to them..

Cops would think twice if they knew they would have to explain to their wives that there would be no paychecks for a month..

[el_bryanto]

1. The last one

I'd reword it to make it clear that if a detainee or suspect is killed - but I would find some way to rework the one month without pay - so that if they are found guilty they are fucked but . . . cops aren't paid a ton of money in a lot of communities. Maybe have an offer to loan them money. If they are found guilty they can't pay the money back with their cop salary - but if they are found innocent the reimburasement of funds will pay off the loan.

Bryant

[Politicalboi]

2. So when they're in the bathroom

Do we get to watch that too? I agree they need body cams, but there has to be a better way. Can't a cop vent about superiors without getting caught? I guess they could have breaks like the rest of the workers, 15 minutes and an hour lunch with no cameras.

[SoCalDem]

5. The cameras are eye-level cams...don't look down :)

but seriously..

the cams could be set up to record when they are on patrol.. in possible contact with the public..I'm sure we have enough IT geniuses who could figure out a work-around

[mopinko]

3. drug testing for any cop involved in a use of force incident.

check them for illegal drugs, steroids and alcohol.

[msongs]

4. stop hiring former military people nt

[tblue37]

7. A lot of the worst offenders are not military. They are locals with affiliations with

such groups as the KKK, Oath Keepers, and various right wing militias.

Military rules of engagement actually forbid much of the stuff cops do. Yeah, sure, that doesn't mean a lot of soldiers don't violate those rules of engagement, but that is often because soldiers in our volunteer army are drawn largely from the same demographic that supplies these brutal cops.

[tblue37]

6. And they should prosecuted by an outside DA, one that does not need to work with that PD at trials.

Also, the laws against assault, murder, obstruction of justice, filing a false police report, etc., should actually apply to cops just as they do to the rest of us.

If any of us were caught on video or reported by multiple witnesses when beating an unsrmed, nonresisting person, especially one restrained by handcuffs or overwhelmed and restrained by a bunch of other people, we would get the book thrown at us. So should cops when they do such things. But their union contracts set the bar so high that it is virtually impossible to charge and convict them for the criminal violence they commit.

[BrotherIvan]

11. Good points

This and the OP are discussions we need to have

[Lancero]

8. Lets point out the issues.

1. Live steam assumes reliable wireless internet. Many, MANY parts of the US lack this. And even then, in areas with numerous wifi connections, you'll have the issue of finding a accessable one - Many people lock out their wifi to prevent unwanted users from leeching BW so the area MUST have avaliable public access points (Which are of varying connection quality), or the police would have to be given a way to freely access any wifi connection they wish. I don't even need to bother pointing out just how BAD of a idea that would be.

And as for turning off, that's another issue - It's going to be recording and transmitting 24/7 which will result in a lot of junk video that would have to be deleted to prevent the offsite servers from running out of storage room.

2. The NSA thanks you for your support.

3. No... Just... No. Do this to the officers who were entrusted to transport a detainee, and anyone who was shown to in the immediate vicinity of a detainee when they were injured, but calling for all responding officers to be pushed is a rather broad brush that in this case doesn't work. You might say 'But they'll get paid after the investigation!", but that completely ignores just how stretched some people are for money these days. For a lot of people, a late paycheck could ruin them.

That said, I never knew that only married cops could be violent...

[SoCalDem]

9. The point of point # 3 is

make them think about supporting bullshit stories and about injuring people in the first place.....and it may be helpful for cops to think a bit more

[Lancero]

10. Then punish them if they do try lying to save another cops hide.

Still though - Punish just the cops who can be shown to have potentially played a part in their injuries, not every cop who was within a hundred yards..

Responding leaves quite a bit of room - You can have responding officers on the scene who may never actually interact with the detainee at all.

Accountability is holding one responsible for their actions. The collective punishment you are proposing isn't accountability.

[BrotherIvan]

12. There can be workarounds for all of those objections

For instance, the cruiser could contain a cell hotspot that transmits whenever it contacts the camera. Livestreaming is not essential, but video is. Video is very data-heavy and needs to be in a security style, low resolution. But audio is very thrifty and can run at real time. It's possible for dashcams, so it can be for body cams.

And a cop filming as he is interacting with people is not spying like the NSA because no one has an expectation of privacy with a cop. And right now, no one has an expectation of safety around one either.

[BrotherIvan]

13. The number one most important thing is ending the drug war

That is the excuse for all of this. End it now.

[fadedrose]

14. Microphones too

We need to know who said what and how it triggered an altercation.

Talking to people, criminals or not, does require some skill and tact, and should be part of cops' training. And cops shouldn't be too thin-skinned when something is said that makes them want to shoot somebody.