LAPD getting the 'Cops' treatment at all major events

Considering that UK traffic wardens are already wielding handheld camcorders to record their daily activities, it's not too shocking to hear that the LAPD will soon be implementing a similar, albeit more extreme, version of employee recording. In the wake of the "MacArthur Park melee," the department's chief has stated that a camera crew will now "follow officers through major incidents, recording their actions from the early roll call to the after-incident report." Supposedly, this all-seeing crew will ensure that police remain on their best behavior, and moreover, it promises that videoed evidence will always be available in the case of a discrepancy. As if that wasn't enough Big Brother for you, the station has also announced plans to equip a helicopter with a long-range HDTV camera that will beam back images to a command station. At this point, they might as well yank the UK's hovering drones too and save the effort.

[Image courtesy of Polizeros]

[pete @ Aug 3rd 2007 4:26PM]

It's not "Big Brother"-- this measure ensures that the people can watch the state, not the opposite. Considering the numerous acts of brutality committed by this police force from the civil rights era into the present day, it is totally justified. As a resident of LA, I welcome it heartily. As a former resident of NYC, I think they need it there, too.

[Isaac @ Oct 30th 2007 6:40PM]

I live in New York City right now and I think the police do a fine job. Crime is at the lowest in a decade, they must be doing something right.

[Ghen @ Aug 3rd 2007 4:36PM]

Policemen and women are in a position of incredible power. It is in their best interest to have someone watch during times of crisis. Noone -plans- to become a crooked cop, its the power that corrupts.

I applaud this move. If I were a policeman I might grumble about the extra overhead.. more money for camera crews means less money for policemen, but if my personal well being is at risk of the kind of corruption LA sees every year I wouldn't grumble very long.

[Gil @ Aug 3rd 2007 4:38PM]

This can work if the records will be publicly available on a youtube-like site.

[HobbesDoo @ Aug 3rd 2007 4:42PM]

I agree 100% with the previous comments. What a silly remark to say this is "Big Brother". Ensuring the safety and proper behavior of our police is the way to go. Not to mention this will work for both sides in case of a dispute.

[Xenoterranos @ Aug 3rd 2007 4:44PM]

So this is more like LitteBrother. Sounds cool to me. I'd love to see someone pointing an 8 gajillion lumen bulb at a cops face in the middle of the night for no good reason. Hopefully, this will deter the sadistic power hungry types from becoming cops in the first place.

[stephen @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:04PM]

The downfall to this is that, in some cases, the cops will be more worried about appearing correct on camera than actually being correct in whatever situation they may be in.

Another negative aspect, and somewhat of an extension of my first. Some cops will naturally do weird things because of the camera's.

I recently watched a video on break.com or youtube.com where the cop was trying to get a resident out of their house because he though it was on fire. In doing so he broke 8 windows....each of which was too small for him to get into the house in order to assist the resident.

I'm sure it'll give us lots to laugh at though. :D

[Lizardman @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:33PM]

That clip is a classic from cops and is rather old. The camera had nothing to do with the cops behavior though, he and the rest of the cops on scene (who were not shown in the edited online clip) were genuinely mistaken about which house(s) were on fire and in that high stress situation erred on the side of caution. As for smashing the windows he obviously couldn't get in through it was attention grabbing for the resident and most likely a stress reaction to the need to get her out quickly rather than a thought out plan. Afterwards (and I don't think they showed this in the youtube version either) a number of the officers rib him about busting the windows he couldn't get through. The windows were repaired at department expense.

Oversight of the police like this is sorely needed everywhere.

[stephen @ Aug 3rd 2007 7:48PM]

The online clip did show the ribbing afterward.

Having seen the full clip you are probably correct on the situation i pointed out.

That aside, people tend to behave differently (regardless of their line of work) when camera's are present.

You wouldn't happen to have a link to the full clip would you?

[Anand Deonarine @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:54PM]

I realize this is extreme, but I think that it is beneficial since some officers in the LAPD abuse their power. It's too bad that the entire force has to suffer because of a few rotten apples, but it's a welcome change that will hopefully bring about fairness. In fact, it can serve in the officers favors too in certain situations....

[syadasti @ Aug 3rd 2007 6:02PM]

Anyone who complains should realize cameras in patrol cars have been the norm for a LONG time. This isn't any worse. Its probably less effective since these crews can't be everywhere. They need mandatory headcams and Archos (HA! iPods weren't good enough) DAPs like the police in the UK are getting:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23403984-details/'Smile,+you're+on+camera!'+Police+to+get+'head-cams'/article.do

[fred @ Aug 3rd 2007 6:03PM]

Wow, this is stupid. It's just going to insure that all the cops employed by the LAPD quit. We ALL do shit we're not supposed to at work, and if you say you don't you're a liar. I'm not saying we should allow corruption, etc. But there are a ton of good cops who don't always follow the "book" and are better cops because of it. All you're gonna guarantee is that every cop is a by the book asshole, and you can forget about getting off with a warning etc. If you had to explain you every movement during the day to your boss you'd be a total basket case.

[pigfister @ Aug 3rd 2007 6:09PM]

cant w8 for the smoking gun edited version to attack the next protest with extras drafted from the cia to throw rocks at the police to justify police brutality!

"In a world of universal deceit,
telling the truth is a revolutionary act."

George Orwell 1984

Tor: anonymity on-line stop the internet spying on you: http://tor.eff.org/

[strider_mt2k @ Aug 3rd 2007 6:28PM]

I steer clear of MacArthur Park.

So many rain-soaked cakes!

[tekbandit @ Aug 3rd 2007 6:37PM]

I thought they already do this on the show Inside the LAPD... or their just bringing it back?

[Irene Rojas @ Aug 3rd 2007 9:15PM]

The new season of "The Closer" has a guy following the cops around crime scenes in LA, and he has to occasionally remind them to be on their best behavior and explain the crime scenes. I guess they knew it was coming.

[DickHardknocks @ Aug 3rd 2007 11:03PM]

What truly needs to be done is removing RACISM from the police force. You can't tell me that the constant violent police brutality against minorities isn't endemic of a large racism issue. These people should not be allowed to work this job if they are not fair and impartial. Any officer who abuses his power deserves to be indicted and charged with a Felony.

[EatingPie @ Aug 4th 2007 11:24AM]

I once saw an LAPD officer at a rock concert hit a guy in the stomach with a billyclub. The crime? Running past the cop with his arms raised in excitement. As the guy writhed on the ground on pain, the cop and his partner looked on for a moment... and walked away.

I was in the rafters so I couldn't get down to the field in time to do anything. But it was horrible. The guy was completely innocent of ANY infraction at all.

-Pie

[Shane @ Aug 4th 2007 5:21PM]

This is all we need. I guess what it's saying is that we don't really trust you, so we're going to tape every move you make. How about this. Lets follow Congressmen with cameras, to include all those backroom negotiations that go on with lobbyists.

[TekBandit @ Aug 4th 2007 8:46PM]

I thought they already did this with that Reality show called Inside the LAPD: Life on the Beat?

[Isaac @ Oct 30th 2007 6:41PM]

This is all we need.