mojo84 wrote:I do not agree with this and do not think it is practical, possible or wise.
Yea, I can think of some reasons where 24/7 surveillance of LEOs would be a problem...
I can't think of any reason why every traffic stop in Texas shouldn't come with audio and video.
jbarn wrote:
You cannot leave us hanging. What was the result?
texanjoker wrote:
Probably the same nonsense like all the people that have told me they would have my badge......
I caved. If he had a nothing hand and was bluffing, I bought it. I honestly believe he would have towed the car and cost me 12 hours. It's not like Wilco is known for that sort of thing. Sorry to disappoint, Joker...
Talking back or asserting your "rights" one on one against a LEO without a witness or without a recording, it's never going to work out well. I'm idealistic, but not dumb.
I've caved facing an unwarranted search also. There were several bluffs, but the one that I bought was, "we're bringing to dog from Travis county, it make take up to an hour and that dog will be all over your car - including on the hood, the roof, etc". Caved on that one too and signed over consent to search.
Largely these two incidents resulted in me installing recording equipment in the car one touch record on the phone. Both were incidents where I had no witnesses and I wasn't sure if there were dash cams.
All my other incidents in the last 25 years or so - respectful and no problems...
Seems to me we are in a very sad state of affairs when the public has to do things like install recording equipment in cars to protect themselves from the LEO's! I realize the few bad apples ruin the bunch but the bunch is still ruined. Unfortunately, you don't get to pick which LEO you have to deal with on the side of the road when no one is looking. Dash cams and body cameras and microphones should be mandatory on ALL units at ALL times. Should be made to verify working order prior to leaving for patrol or patrol doesn't happen. With all of the technology available today this can't be that difficult to accomplish.
Take that thought and reverse it. It's pretty sad how police work has evolved that I always carry at least one recorder to protect me from false complaints....people love to call up and file false complaints and I can say first hand I pull out the audio and the complaint goes away...
TexanJoker, You make my point, which is that all interactions should be recorded. This would serve to protect both sides! I am quite sure you are correct in stating that people love to file false complaints BUT, so do the cops!
True for both sides. I carry a recorder and always have. The down side is that technology DOES fail. Then the public thinks there is a cover up when it's merely a mechanical failure. Those body cameras are nice, but they also break easily with the riggers of police work. I like how Austin PD got automatic car cameras. No need for the officer to turn on as they are automatic which is crucial for an officer safety point as one has more important things to focus on then a camera.
What triggers the camera to start recording? I can see that I would have trouble remembering to turn my camera on.
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mojo84 wrote:What triggers the camera to start recording? I can see that I would have trouble remembering to turn my camera on.
I know that activating the lights did in some circumstances.
However, memory is so inexpensive these days, is there really a reason not to record a loop of audio? I'm not saying that it should be made available to the public, I'm just suggesting that if turning it on/off is problematic, recording audio doesn't take up that much space.
mojo84 wrote:What percentage of the cops are "bad apples"?
What percentage of the citizens of our country are "bad apples"?
We need to treat one another respectfully and as good people until one gives the other a reason not to. This principle goes both ways. We shouldn't automatically treat cops as "bad apples" and the cops shouldn't treat everyone they encounter as "bad apples".
If the cops believe they need to record encounters with citizens to protect themselves, we shouldn't resent it. Likewise, cops shouldn't resent it when mere citizens believe they need to record interactions with cops to protect themselves.
THIS ...
mojo84 wrote:
LEOs are public servants, and the public has a right to know exactly what they doing every minute that they are being paid.
I do not agree with this and do not think it is practical, possible or wise.
I think you're pointing that those statements run against each other.. They don't, at least not necessarily. There's a difference between recording all on-duty activity and making those recording fully available to the public.
mojo84 wrote:If the cops believe they need to record encounters with citizens to protect themselves, we shouldn't resent it. Likewise, cops shouldn't resent it when mere citizens believe they need to record interactions with cops to protect themselves.
THIS ...
I bought a dashcam DVR for my truck after this thread. viewtopic.php?f=83&t=67630" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It's wired into the electrical system and automatically records when the ignition is ON or ACC. A 16GB microSD card was less than $20 and holds a lot of video.
"support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic"
mojo84 wrote:What triggers the camera to start recording? I can see that I would have trouble remembering to turn my camera on.
The dashcam you want will have a "loop recording" feature, which along with the auto-on/auto-record whenever energized will always have the last x hours (x depends on the memory card you've installed) of activity stored-to-memory. When you have an incident you stop the camera and pull the card and you have your record.
Some dashcams also have a shock sensor which in the case of an accident does some extra stuff automatically wrt saving information. Oh, and still others are GPS-enabled so you can match the video with the location.
You cannot leave us hanging. What was the result?
I caved. If he had a nothing hand and was bluffing, I bought it. I honestly believe he would have towed the car and cost me 12 hours. It's not like Wilco is known for that sort of thing. Sorry to disappoint, Joker...texanjoker wrote: Probably the same nonsense like all the people that have told me they would have my badge......
