Should cops wear cameras?

[Islander_fan]

I was watching the local Long Island news channel the other day when visiting home. There was a story there that was talking about how the Nassau County police are testing the first part of a two phase plan. The plan is to have small video cameras on the cops at all times. The first phase is doing so in the cop cars, the second is them actually wearing one while walking around. Do you think that this is something that would fly/should be done by the NYPD? I feel that there have been a lot of stories coming up as of late of the cops behaving in questionable fashion. If they have cameras on them, and they know that a commanding officer is watching, might some of the actions of the NYPD change at all? what do you think?

[Gothampc]

Will it be any use if the police edit the tapes? Oops, the camera malfunctioned right at that point when the cop started choking the victim.

[Jane2]

raise your hand if you're willing to be a cop.

[ErikJ972]

"raise your hand if you're willing to be a cop."
I'm not sure what that has to do with anything. I don't think anyone would argue that being a police officer is not a tough job. But that doesn't give them license to behave any way they want.

[Jane2]

Have you ever made a mistake on your job? More than once, I imagine. There is no other profession that I can think of (except in medicine) that each mistake becomes big news and is scrutinized to the extent as law enforcement.

I doubt if anyone here felt the stress that cops are under each day, as they risk their lives for us. Meantime, don't call them if you're in trouble.

[Kad]

I would imagine that most of us here don't have a job in which "excessive force" is a mistake we could even make.

In fact, I would imagine that most of us here don't have jobs that are at all comparable to law enforcement, both in duties and in repurcussions of actions.

[Gothampc]

"I doubt if anyone here felt the stress that cops are under each day, as they risk their lives for us."

Malcolm Gladwell actually addresses this in his book "Blink". How the police have to make instant life or death decisions.

[Jane2]

Exactly Goth. No one here can relate to that, yet they condemn those who do.

[Bettyboy72]

Im with Jane. My dad is a retired cop. All the arm chair quarter backs out there have no idea the level of stress. The general public are morons-very problematic and dangerous. Cops do their best. Truly evil cops are rare. Most are trying their best to protect the public and live to the next day themselves.

[Jordan Catalano]

In the past few weeks, I've randomly been told three times that I woudld make a great cop and/or correctional officer. I can't imagine the stress level those would come with.

[Gothampc]

"In the past few weeks, I've randomly been told three times that I woudld make a great cop and/or correctional officer."

You need to interact with people outside of The Eagle.

[Jane2]

"Most are trying their best to protect the public and live to the next day themselves."

Exactly Betty. I wonder if some people even realize that cops and firefighters set out every day knowing their lives could be over, yet they put themselves into the fire, and "line" of fire, pun intended, FOR US. They, and our armed forces, deserve more respect and appreciation than are shown towards them, I think.

[Islander_fan]

@Jane2,

I'm sure that you've heard the expression "all politicians are corrupt." Now, I am sure that many would agree that that's a blanket stereotype, and that many of us can name a political figure, either locally or otherwise that is someone that doesn't fall into that category.

Are all cops evil? No, but I do know a couple of people who are cops and are very friendly etc. They would be the first to tell you that a bad apple or two does ruin the entire bunch. There are one too many cops out there who feel that they are above the law and get away with it. Hell, I have been harassed on more than one occasion by a cop, simply because of how I look. I think that a great step in the right direction would be for them to stop targeting minorities, and (in cases like killing someone via a chokehold) be held accountable for their actions the same way you or I would if we killed someone.

Jane, If you really want to get a sense of where I'm coming from, listen to act two, of the This American Life episode linked to this post. Ira Glass interviews a former cop, who essentially got forced out of his job with the NYPD because he caught on to the fact that his commanding officers were telling him and the other cops to falsify arrest just to make it look like the crime rate was going down. When he felt that something wasn't right, he started to record meetings using a small recording device that he got from a spy shop. The recordings themselves and the story is very interesting. I think that you should listen to it before you continue your "cops can do no wrong" crusade.
This American Life interview with former cop

[Kad]

I think one can, and should, both respect law enforcement officials and question or criticize abuses and systematic or policy failures. To write those off as "errors" benefits no one.

[Islander_fan]

@Kad

I agree. Brushing off acts of abuse as "errors" is the wrong way to go about it. I feel that in situations, like the one on Staten Island, gets pushed under the rug as if nothing happened. I think that the cops need to be accountable for their actions and get more than a simple slap on the wrist when they do something wrong.

I also think that there's a macho "I can do whatever I want" mentality with cops. Hell, there was an article in the NY TImes talking about how the Staten Island DA want's to press charges against the cop who killed the guy. The article spoke about how other cops gave the cop who killed the guy a proverbial pat on the back, as if he did a good thing. I honestly feel that until that mentality changes and there's away for them to be held accountable for their actions, we are going to keep hearing stories about how cops go over the edge and screw up time and time again.

[FishermanBob]

"I think that you should listen to it before you continue your "cops can do no wrong" crusade."

If anyone is on a crusade, it is most certainly you. You hate cops, resent their authority, what you consider to be their ability to do whatever they want. With comments like "I feel that cops are like dogs hanging round the dinner table", your contempt for them as a group is palpable.

"Hell, there was an article in the NY Times talking about how the Staten Island DA want's to press charges against the cop who killed the guy. The article spoke about how other cops gave the cop who killed the guy a proverbial pat on the back, as if he did a good thing."

Please cite exactly where in the article it mentions cops gave the officer a "proverbial pat on the back" cause I didn't see anything written that even spoke to the reaction of other cops to the officer in question much less that pats on the back were given. You've already decided that this will get pushed under the rug even though the D.A. is still investigating it. Your lack of objectivity as well as your misrepresentations of what others have said and written are clear.

If cops violate the law, they should be treated and prosecuted like everyone else. I completely support that. I also though keep in mind what others have said, that cops do a thankless and difficult job most others want no part of. That they spend their entire workday, day after day never being able to lower their vigilance cause one slip, one mistake because "well he or she didn't look dangerous" could easily cost a cop his or her life. Cops run towards danger when everyone else runs from it. 13 years after 9/11, cops are still dealing with and dying from 9/11 related illnesses cause they risked their lives to save others. Islanderfan, when was the last time you risked your life to come to the aid of someone you didn't know. I'm guessing never. Yet these people take a job which requires them to do it every day.

Are there cops within the NYPD who are cowboys and overstep their boundaries? Of course. There are bad apples in any 34,000 person workforce and they should be dealt with for their transgressions. But to condemn an entire workforce based on a few incidents when thousands of cop-civilian interactions occur every day is completely unfair. I've had interactions with the police, have treated them with respect and had no problems. Based on your comments here which show a strong dislike for cops as a group and my guess that you don't hide it when dealing with them, if I asked for their side of the story as to why they "messed" with you, I can't be sure but I'm willing to bet their conduct would make perfect sense.

[Jane2]

Islander, I'm not going to watch that program.I don't know about you, but I"m talking about policemen in general, not specific people or cases.

Fisherman Bob, thanks for your excellent post.

[Islander_fan]

I don't in theory have anything against the jobs cops do and thank them for the work that they do. However, the NYPD organization is a corrupt system. And believe me when I say this, I am not the first one to be critical of the NYPD as a whole. Have I ran into cops who were nice over the years? Yes, I have. I don't question the fact that they have a difficult job and do help people.

And, as much as I hate to use this phrase, but with regards to the recent interaction I had with the cops, you're wrong. Here's my story with the cops. It's long, but whatever.

I, personally am someone who grew up with/ has mild learning issues. Truth be told, people have incorrectly assumed, just by looking at me, that I have aspergers. I don't, and while what I have appear as such, that is not something I have.

Now, couple of weeks ago, I was outside Bryant Park holding a coffee. I put the coffee down on the side of the wall outside the park and was facing the ledge for a moment to put the coffee down so I could pull out my pack of cigarettes and have a smoke. When my back was turned, a cop came over and asked me rather sternly if I was tagging the wall with graffiti. I politely told him that I was just putting my coffee down to have a smoke. He then, told me that I it's against the law to smoke in or around city parks. (For what it's worth, I was under the impression that you're not allowed to smoke inside the parks, but outside the confines of the park is fair game. Also, I was far from the only one who was just outside the park smoking and found it odd that they picked me out of the small group of people that were doing the same exact thing I was.)

Anyways, I intentionally neglected to question what the law was, or to point out that I was far from the only one that was just outside Bryant Park smoking. I gave him a friendly thanks for letting me know what the law was and proceeded to cross the street and walk away. If that was where things ended, I would have walked away with the thought that the cop was someone who gave the impression of having a bug up his Ass. But, after I walked across the street, the were following me. Now, like I said, I'm someone that can have the visual appearance of looking like someone who's cognitively impaired even though I'm extremely far from that. I honestly couldn't tell if they were following me because they made a judgment based upon how I looked and thought that I am someone that was going to do something that I shouldn't because of that. Or, if they were using me as their source of entertainment. Feeling uncomfortable, and unsure of what to do, I called both my mother and my brother who are both lawyers to get two different perspectives on what to do. They both agreed, as did I, that because of how I look, the cops thought that I was doing something wrong. And, that it should have ended with me walking away, them following me was crossing a line. My brother informed me to go sit in a Starbucks or something and wait until they stopped following me. If, he said, they follow you into the cafe and try to talk with you there, I should call him back and have him act as my attorney. I went into a Starbucks, sat down, and played a game on my phone. They waited for roughly ten min or so, and then left.

The interaction outside the park was simply a case of a tough guy throwing his weight around, fine. Not the biggest fan of that, but can deal with it. But, following me around, and waiting a bit to see if I would come out of the Starbucks was a bit much.

Jane, the segment of the radio show that I pointed out talks about how the police force was ran when Kelly was in charge. it does have to do with policemen in general since it goes into how they have illegally operated over recent years.

ETA, I guess that my issue isn't with cops per se, but rather that they operate in a system that has been pointed out by many critics as being corrupt

[FishermanBob]

"However, the NYPD organization is a corrupt system."

There is a huge difference between an excessive use of force in some cases and corruption. I'd like you to back up with facts your allegation that the entire NYPD is a corrupt organization.

As far as your specific incident is concerned, it's unfortunate it occurred and made you feel uncomfortable but by your own comments, "because of how I look, the cops thought that I was doing something wrong." Sounds like they were acting in a reasonable manner if that is what they genuinely thought and even you admit, that scenario is possible. So they approached you, observed you for a short time and once they determined there was no threat, moved on. If their sole goal was to throw their weight around or mess with you for sport, believe me, they could have made your life a lot more unpleasant. New York is location No. #1 for terrorists and large public gathering spaces like Bryant Park are prime targets. If this was a side street in Corona, perhaps they would have acted differently. It's unfortunate your appearance may give an inaccurate impression of you or your intentions but cops don't know you or your history and can't afford to take chances for the reasons I stated earlier. That's life and that's the hand life has dealt you. The NYPD isn't to blame for that.

But let's be honest here. You were annoyed they had the nerve to single you out in the first place. Instead of a cop legitimately approaching a person he thought looked questionable, you viewed it as a tough guy throwing his weight around for no reason with a bug up his ass. The deep seated level of resentment you have for the NYPD wasn't just created two weeks ago. It's pretty clear your dislike and disdain for cops existed long before this incident. It sounds like your brother has been filling your head with stories of police doing whatever they want for many months if not years. I don't know (and don't care) what else has happened in your life to cause this but clearly it has existed for a long time.

If you better understood the training and instructions cops are given and the reasoning for those instructions as well as the experiences THEY have had, you might feel differently about it. But I suspect you believe what you believe and you're not really interested in trying to better understand it from their point of view.

[Islander_fan]

&Fisherman Bob

Geez, you make it sound as if my family brainwashed me. That's as far from the truth. My family generally have the same viewpoint. that's just me being in agreement. It's not as if the cops have thought that I looked odd and thought me suspicious once or twice. If that were the case, I may find it irksome but regardless let it pass. But situations like the one outlined above have been happening to me for years. Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice shame on you.

As for me stating that the NYPD acts in a questionable fashion. I
Do urge you to listen to the This American Life segment I linked to above. It may not change your overall viewpoint but it may get you to look at things from another angle. If not, it's still a very interesting story.

[Jane2]

I'm sorry the cops followed you and annoyed you Islander fan.

my cousin, who is Jewish and has the swarthy appearance of a mideast citizen had rented a van to move some equipment. He was driving it in his neighborhood when he was pulled over by cops, told to lay on the street, and was immediately surrounded by cops with rifles pointed at him. How embarrassing for some of his friends to see him like that! Anyway, it seems there were some stolen vans on the roads and the cops saw this one. My cousin looked like someone who would be driving a stolen van.

I've been out shopping and followed around in stores as if I'm a shoplifter a few times. I was annoyed and left the store when that happened.

Cops have to act on hunches. As Tazber said, they're damned if they do, damned if they don't. I'm glad they're that alert to what might be a crime about to happen.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Not to threadjack, but I was curious about one point. The cop was wrong to say smoking is prohibited on the sidewalk surrounding a park.

Per the Official Website of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation:

"Smoking is allowed on sidewalks outside parks, including sidewalks that form the perimeter of parks. For example, smoking will be allowed on the sidewalk on 5th Avenue outside Central Park. Smoking is permitted in the parking lots of all Parks properties."