South Florida cops claimed they were “forced to fire” at a 32-year-old Black man named Donald Taylor in August because he was armed and would not follow commands.
But newly surfaced video contradicts those claims, showing the Black man walking away from cops with his hands raised to his sides showing no gun in his hand when a Hollywood police officer fired a single shot as Taylor had his back turned to the cops, killing him.
Footage should be held by some independent 3rd party who will follow the rules on releasing it. It shouldn’t be up to the cops.
We tried that when Biden was in office and all these new body cam laws were passed. So many cops threatened to quit, politicians backed down and let police unions retain control of the cameras and recordings.
Damn, I had no idea that happened. So fucked.
Edit: Also, I kinda feel like the ones who threatened the quit, were the ones we wanted to quit …
They wouldn’t have quit. That would have impacted their pensions.
I’ve just been thinking on this more, that really would have been fascinating to see it play out.
I think you’re right for any old timers. New people it’s not a big an issue. I feel like there may have been a big lawsuit though over if that would be reasonable grounds to quit and keep the pension? It could be entirely baseless, I don’t know know anything about that, but that feels like what would happen for those that did quit or wanted to quit?
The ensuing aftermath though would have been a very interesting watch.
Edit: the ensuing aftermath also including all the changes in police misconduct stats.
Screw that. It should be held by a 3rd party openly hostile to police.
Exactly. The footage is there to keep the police from abusing their power, it’s not supposed to be neutral in the first place.
The cynic in me doesn’t believe there exists any such party.
I could do it. Problem solved.
I admire your gumption if not your efficacy
Public library systems, give them money from the police budget to get the job done.
Thats also fair.
“Neutral third parties” that who would rely on police departments contracts.
If the cops want it released then it’s released. If they want it buried then it’s buried. Because the customer is always right.
Cop body cams should just be open to live streaming by anyone at anytime the same way unprotected security cameras are.
I think that would be a potential privacy problem for the people interacting with the cops, given that the majority of their interactions with people don’t end up in a shooting. I once got pulled over when I was driving home from late night board games a few days after Christmas. I hadn’t been driving erratically, they were just doing routine breathalyser checks because there had been a lot of drunk driving in the area.
I think when the policy is well-made, it would fit with security camera workings. When you go shopping at the mall, pay for your stuff and leave, you’re recorded, but the running footage is erased every 48 hours or so. It’s only when the mall has a major shoplifting incident, or a mass shooting, would someone tag the period of the crime and save it all for review. Similarly, police would only need body camera review if there’s a report they discharged their weapon, made an arrest, etc.