How does the majority feel about body cameras for police officers nationwide?

Agreed. It will either change the behavior of the officers, or it will present a credible story supporting the officers in question.

A good example in my field is why some ER folks don't like family watching cardiac codes. They worry that something they say will be perceived as offensive. ER folks tend to be very frank and have morbid sense of humors. Sometimes things we say can be perceived as rude or offensive when in reality it's how ER folks cope with the stress.

SSG Jim Foreman I think that what LTC Paul Labrador meant by that is that IA or a review board does not just randomly sift through the activities of the officers to "catch them" doing something. The cameras would be reviewed when for example there was a violent action, or complaint. No fishing expeditions.

Policing is extremely difficult at best. We need tough cops, just as we need tough "soldiers" to do a job that is unforgiving, split second decisions are judged for years to come, everyone becomes an expert on "what an officer should have done". If the cameras get misused by departments, the departments will have no trust with command. It will snowball, and we could see officers slow down responses so as not to put themselves in jeopardy of complaint and discipline, thereby endangering the populace even more. I hope that the cameras get used properly, and not as some kind of screening tool.

LTC Labrador. Now I understand what you mean. As a retired police officer that would be my concern. In California we are protected by our POA (most of the time). Cameras, like GPS in vehicles is to only be used when there is a citizens complaint.

LTC Paul Labrador Thanks for elaborating! As I thought we were thinking along the same lines.

Lack of activating the camera could be cause to disbelieve the LEO

TSgt Joshua Copeland,

Currently, as far as I know, the body cameras have to be activated by the officer, unlike the vehicle cameras which activate and start recording when the emergency lights go on, or if an officer manually has it start recording.

If the body cameras automatically started recording, and for some reason it was messed with so it did not, then I could see no giving the LEO the benefit of the doubt.

But, if the officer has to start it, then just because they did not activate it should not be automatic "disbelief" in their statements. Officers do not always know when something bad is going to happen.

Keeping the camera always running is currently not an option, because of the ones I know of, the batteries and memory only last from 4-8 hours of constant use or less. Then, there is the problem of the temporary and permanent storage of the data.

LTC Paul Heinlein, that is why I stated "could" vs. saying it "should" or "will".

TSgt Joshua Copeland,

Tracking...specificity of words matter....hope all is well. Best Wishes, Paul Heinlein

Cameras should be mandatory on all law enforcement.