Seeing a lot of push back against the idea of Body cams on cops. People site Surveillance society issues. Were heading in that direction anyway. Not sure we can or should fight that inevitability. via Michelle Alexander: I know this will probably anger many of my friends in the civil rights community, but Im going to go ahead and say it: Im not a big fan of police body cameras. And I find it very strange that civil rights advocates are falling over themselves to endorse increased video surveillance of the pubic. After all, the cameras will not be recording the police. They will be recording the people who come into contact with the police. I know there is one study that says excessive use of force declined dramatically after body cameras were adopted, but there are other studies that have reached the opposite conclusion. My question is this: Is this the kind of society we want to be? A surveillance society? A society where the police can only be trusted if theyre on video? And what about the fact that, even when cameras are rolling, the police can still choke an unarmed man to death and walk away without punishment? In the long run, do we really believe increasing the video surveillance of people who come into contact with the police is going to meaningfully address the racial, cultural, and institutional dynamics that lead police to shoot first and ask questions later? If we dont think technology can address any of the root causes of this crisis, then we better be very, very certain that these cameras arent going to make things worse by enabling the criminal injustice machine. Right now, it seems the evidence is shaky at best.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 14:45:04 +0000