Bowser Wants Body Cam Footage Exempt from Open Records Law

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  • Z_Man

    Ultimate Member
    May 23, 2014
    2,698
    Harford County
    It's pretty common place in manufacturing.

    The machines need to be kept running if the company is to remain profitable. If a worker bee needs to go on break, either they wait till it's time or they get relieved from their work station by someone else.

    Calling in breaks, would also allow management to calculate how much time is not going to the tasks required by the job. My CMMI background is showing :o

    in a place where a large number of people work in tandem, yes synchronizing breaks is necessary... just like if I'm at a meeting I can't just stop it to take a leak... however in a routine day to day of someone who doesn't work in a factory, having to ask permission to take a leak would suck
     
    Dec 6, 2011
    326
    I expect that political considerations will whip far beyond the desires of the average citizen and the police simply won't be allowed to turn the bodycams off while on duty. There probably won't even be a switch on the device. It should be tamper proof. Evidence bags don't have zip-lock tops for a reason.

    Police radios in many jurisdictions have a GPS device installed. In the very near future, people will be able to make a FOIA request asking if an officer was in a place at a given time and ask for the contents of the video. The requests for use in civil cases will be limitless. Civil lawyers will love it. The sheer number of hours they could bill collecting dirt and defending against it is baffling.

    Cheating on your wife.........
    Drinking a beer when it's your weekend to have the kids.....
    Collecting a disability check and carrying a bunch of heavy stuff......
    Act brave at a traffic accident so your kids aren't afraid, even though your back (unseen) is killing you......

    If you have never been involved in a civil case, you have no idea how much the average person has to lose or how far attorneys will reach to make money. The unintended consequences are going to be revolutionary. Subpoenas get issued for nonsense every day in Maryland.

    There will come a day when average people will shield their faces as soon as they see a cop. They'll do it out of reflex because it's too hard to remember if every single thing they are doing is acceptable to every member of society. It will be like braking as you pass a speed camera even though you are doing the speed limit.

    Parents frequently say to their children "the policeman will lock you up." In a couple years, they'll say "cover up, the policeman is taking your picture." Uninvolved witness? We can get rid of the term entirely. There won't be any. What could be worth the risk?

    Cameras will make police work easier and safer. They will. A few years into it, cops will realize there is no need to risk a foot chase when video and facial recognition linked to MVA and booking photos will lead them to the bad guys house. A few years into it, criminals will be safer......and more polite knowing capture is inevitable and a judge will see and consider it all.

    Cops will learn over time to talk less and arrest more. They spend a lot of time trying to talk people into doing the right thing before arresting them. Like anyone that talks for a living, words will eventually get them in trouble. There will two conversations, "here's your ticket" and "put your hands behind your back." Warnings aren't required and yet most cops almost beg you do the right thing before they cite or arrest. That will end. It's easy not to write a ticket when your boss doesn't know you made a stop. Now the bosses will know everything...and they'll want an explanation when 10 stops don't equal 10 tickets.

    A few years into it, unintended consequences will rain down on citizens....but then, they asked for it.....loudly. Enjoy!
     

    kgain673

    I'm sorry for the typos!!
    Dec 18, 2007
    1,820
    That would be a change in procedure.

    Bathroom breaks would have to be called in, or you wait until you are officially on a break.

    This is no different than calling in the police car is on the road, when the LEO is not on duty.

    You sir have no idea what your talking about or have a clue of the nature of police work. The Internet, making professionals of amateurs and ignorant people everyday. I've lost what little respect I have for you after this comment. No job I ever had required me "wait" until a official brake to pee. but I do understand your views on LEOs are not the norm, they are the extreme and are closer aligned with the emotional liberal decision making.
     

    Kelson1066

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 31, 2012
    1,028
    Frederick County
    With regards to privacy there are plenty of laws on the books. I also agree that the information recorded should be treated as secure until such time as it is unclassified (or it's equivalent)

    I see this exonerating police as LEO's will have received training on the use and location of these cameras which will be on their mind while interacting with the public. Joe 6 pack or Lil' Ricky won't be thinking about it 6 months after its introduced so accusations of improper conduct will likely be resolved by pulling up the camera footage.

    Just my .02
     

    fidelity

    piled higher and deeper
    MDS Supporter
    Aug 15, 2012
    22,400
    Frederick County
    I expect that political considerations will whip far beyond the desires of the average citizen and the police simply won't be allowed to turn the bodycams off while on duty. There probably won't even be a switch on the device. It should be tamper proof. Evidence bags don't have zip-lock tops for a reason.

    Police radios in many jurisdictions have a GPS device installed. In the very near future, people will be able to make a FOIA request asking if an officer was in a place at a given time and ask for the contents of the video. The requests for use in civil cases will be limitless. Civil lawyers will love it. The sheer number of hours they could bill collecting dirt and defending against it is baffling.

    Cheating on your wife.........
    Drinking a beer when it's your weekend to have the kids.....
    Collecting a disability check and carrying a bunch of heavy stuff......
    Act brave at a traffic accident so your kids aren't afraid, even though your back (unseen) is killing you......

    If you have never been involved in a civil case, you have no idea how much the average person has to lose or how far attorneys will reach to make money. The unintended consequences are going to be revolutionary. Subpoenas get issued for nonsense every day in Maryland.

    There will come a day when average people will shield their faces as soon as they see a cop. They'll do it out of reflex because it's too hard to remember if every single thing they are doing is acceptable to every member of society. It will be like braking as you pass a speed camera even though you are doing the speed limit.

    Parents frequently say to their children "the policeman will lock you up." In a couple years, they'll say "cover up, the policeman is taking your picture." Uninvolved witness? We can get rid of the term entirely. There won't be any. What could be worth the risk?

    Cameras will make police work easier and safer. They will. A few years into it, cops will realize there is no need to risk a foot chase when video and facial recognition linked to MVA and booking photos will lead them to the bad guys house. A few years into it, criminals will be safer......and more polite knowing capture is inevitable and a judge will see and consider it all.

    Cops will learn over time to talk less and arrest more. They spend a lot of time trying to talk people into doing the right thing before arresting them. Like anyone that talks for a living, words will eventually get them in trouble. There will two conversations, "here's your ticket" and "put your hands behind your back." Warnings aren't required and yet most cops almost beg you do the right thing before they cite or arrest. That will end. It's easy not to write a ticket when your boss doesn't know you made a stop. Now the bosses will know everything...and they'll want an explanation when 10 stops don't equal 10 tickets.

    A few years into it, unintended consequences will rain down on citizens....but then, they asked for it.....loudly. Enjoy!

    Great post. Imaginative, speculative, but a lot rings true.
     

    StantonCree

    Watch your beer
    Jan 23, 2011
    23,932
    You sir have no idea what your talking about or have a clue of the nature of police work. The Internet, making professionals of amateurs and ignorant people everyday. I've lost what little respect I have for you after this comment. No job I ever had required me "wait" until a official brake to pee. but I do understand your views on LEOs are not the norm, they are the extreme and are closer aligned with the emotional liberal decision making.

    Trust me bro put his I'm always right nonsense on ignore and you'll be much happier it's not contrasting views that's an issue it's nonsense :)

    If he had all the answers, like he believes he does, he would be president!
     

    Inigoes

    Head'n for the hills
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 21, 2008
    49,359
    SoMD / West PA
    Trust me bro put his I'm always right nonsense on ignore and you'll be much happier it's not contrasting views that's an issue it's nonsense :)

    If he had all the answers, like he believes he does, he would be president!

    I do not want the pay cut.

    Seriously, you are fighting the evolution of the job. It happens in every industry.

    Sometimes things change for the better, sometimes not. Management will have to follow the laws and regulations set before them, or they can add to. They cannot take away though.

    You always have the option to change careers, if you are unhappy.
     

    beretta_maven

    Free Thinking Member
    Jan 2, 2014
    1,725
    SoMD
    For all the LEOs having a sh1tting hemorrhage over this...

    If you had taken the time to actually read the article all the way through, you would have noticed the sentence (I did) about the ton of privacy laws already on the books that protect your bathroom breaks, calls to momma-san, and whatever else. Also, it probably didn't occur top you that the body cam video provides hard-to-deny evidence in YOUR favor for excessive force beefs and meetings with the FTP bunch and other lower life forms of that nature.

    Chances are the videos would sit on a server somewhere untouched for probably five years or so and then be deleted. Nobody - even the Feds - archives non-records forever. It's just too expensive. And nobody's going to screen and extract part of your day for no reason. Understand?

    Other departments have been doing this for years and have NOT shielded the raw video from the public. But if it's older than "still on shift," the complaintant's lawyer has to go through a few terrabytes of data on an archive disk to locate the few kb pertinent to the complaint. Excessive force and wrongful arrest beefs dropped off dramatically where the body cameras are in use.

    That is all. Be safe. Out here.

    Excellent...I am in total agreement. And as you said, bodycams not only protect the public from police misconduct, but they protect the police from bogus complaints from that same public. I cannot understand why all PDs are not in favor bodycams...
     

    Armati

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Apr 6, 2013
    1,902
    Baltimore
    I would like to see some daily interactions with "The Community" posted on YouTube. People would get a better idea what LEOs have to deal with.
     

    Inigoes

    Head'n for the hills
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 21, 2008
    49,359
    SoMD / West PA
    I would like to see some daily interactions with "The Community" posted on YouTube. People would get a better idea what LEOs have to deal with.

    The good interactions would send a positive message. Something LEOs say there isn't that much of.
     

    alucard0822

    For great Justice
    Oct 29, 2007
    17,643
    PA
    With all due respect, how are those issues handled now with dash cams? There is a fine line between the public's right to watch the watchmen, and the privacy rights of the police and people that they interact with. I don't think police are much different now than they have ever been, if anything they are far more professional and held accountable more than any time in the past, and a handful of high profile cases with video evidence have been a part of that. That is still the little picture though, I think some of the larger issues with police stem from the government and public asking police to be something they shouldn't be, and to interact with the public in a way that the founders never intended.
     

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