I’m all for it. As long as they can be remotely turned on, have the capability to stream live, and have the video uploaded automatically immediately after an incident by an accountable party. When your body cam can stream and upload to the Internet there is no excuse for lost footage.
Unfortunately, bodycam videos often contain private info (nudity, PII, graphic scenes, etc), and need to be put through a censor before being made available to the public. So someone like a police chief has the power to cover something up pretty easily. An agency is only as honest as the ones with the power to control which videos make it out to the public.
Nonetheless, I support putting those features on all officers too. Even if it’s not perfect, it does improve things, and put a feeling of surveillance on the officers.
A number of municipalities have made the review boards consist of citizens outside the jurisdiction’s criminal justice structure. This is a great idea and should become more widely adopted.
They will always find an excuse.
