Body Cameras Were Sold as a Tool of Police Reform. Ten Years Later, Most of the Footage Is Kept From Public View.
At least 1,201 people were killed in 2022 by law enforcement officers, about 100 deaths a month, according to Mapping Police Violence, a nonprofit research group that tracks police killings. ProPublica examined the 101 deaths that occurred in June 2022, a time frame chosen because enough time had elapsed that investigations could reasonably be expected to have concluded. The cases involved 131 law enforcement agencies in 34 states.
In 79 of those deaths, ProPublica confirmed that body-worn camera video exists. But more than a year later, authorities or victims’ families had released the footage of only 33 incidents.
Philadelphia signed a $12.5 million contract in 2017 to equip its entire police force with cameras. Since then, at least 27 people have been killed by Philadelphia police, according to Mapping Police Violence, but in only two cases has body-camera video been released to the public.
ProPublica’s review shows that withholding body-worn camera footage from the public has become so entrenched in some cities that even pleas from victims’ families don’t serve to shake the video loose.
This is a bullshit comment.
Dont get me wrong, im not saying they arent cowards or whatever, but only country where cops are lethally armed? Honey, thats not the reason your cops are snowflakes lol.
Here in my country cops wear guns as well (though in a holder that has to be at all times closed unless needed) yet here we are... With as good as 0 "accidental" deaths by cops.
Therefor, your comment makes no sense.
i didnt say only
You said "one of the only".
The UK is the only Western country I know of where cops don't normally carry a firearm. It's a very distinctive feature of the UK police, not the default or something that makes the US stand out. Even in Scandinavia the cops armed.
The differences between the US and the rest of the developed world lie elsewhere, in a multitude of unaddressed systemic issues.
yep, my mistake. thank you!
Yup, and not only that, police keep getting polled in the UK and they keep saying they don't want guns
Fair, that you didnt, I misread that part by the looks of it!
That said, i think my point stands that being armed has nothing to do with the issue. And before anyone calls me a gun loving guy, i dont like guns at all tbh
do you feel your every day police officer should require lethal armament at all times or do you possibly feel (as i clearly do) that other countries have proven this isnt a requirement?
I feel like it all depends on the country, or even environment. If it is a hostile area they should be equipped to deal with it. However, with this i assume that the police and/or officer take full responsability IF things go bad. We are all humans, and mistakes can happen, but if a gun is pulled, it should be a very bad scenario and a last resort.
Like all things, i dont think its just black and white. Life aint like that
thats a great point. im talkin about the good ol u.s. here. ive worked with cops. most will tell you, you know how many times they use their weapons? never. most never fire shots on duty.
and its true, the stats bear out.. most united states police officers have never fired their weapon on duty.
perfect, then you dont need that gun.
The problem is that other nations don't have a 2nd Amendment that guarantees the right to bear arms.
yeah, thats not really what im getting at.
i understand the functional difficulty in weapons control in a country where they are en-codified, but that doesnt mean we cant point out the vulgarity of these human killing devices.
it reminds me of a recent rick n morty episode where they couldnt physically stop people addicted to a thing, but they were able to completely dissuade their addiction by forcing them to see the grossness of their actions.