A drastic drop in complaints immediately after San Diego outfitted its police with body cameras
Surprise, surprise! Immediately after San Diego outfitted its police force with 600 body camera the number of complaints plunged.
The report, which took one full year into account, found that complaints against police have fallen 40.5 percent and use of “personal body” force by officers has been reduced by 46.5 percent. Use of pepper spray has decreased by 30.5 percent.
Two benefits can be seen immediately. First, the police are being harassed less from false complaints. Second, and more important, the police are finding ways to settle most disputes without the use of force, which means they are abusing their authority less.
These statistics do confirm what many on both the right and the left have begun to believe in recent years, that the police have been almost certainly using force against citizens inappropriately too often. In San Diego at least the cameras are serving to stem this misuse of authority.
Posted from Tucson International Airport, on my way to Vandenberg to get a tour and give a lecture.
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Surprise, surprise! Immediately after San Diego outfitted its police force with 600 body camera the number of complaints plunged.
The report, which took one full year into account, found that complaints against police have fallen 40.5 percent and use of “personal body” force by officers has been reduced by 46.5 percent. Use of pepper spray has decreased by 30.5 percent.
Two benefits can be seen immediately. First, the police are being harassed less from false complaints. Second, and more important, the police are finding ways to settle most disputes without the use of force, which means they are abusing their authority less.
These statistics do confirm what many on both the right and the left have begun to believe in recent years, that the police have been almost certainly using force against citizens inappropriately too often. In San Diego at least the cameras are serving to stem this misuse of authority.
Posted from Tucson International Airport, on my way to Vandenberg to get a tour and give a lecture.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Cameras tend to make everyone behave a bit better behaved on both sides of the equation, which is not an endorsement on my part of having them everywhere. I think the trend will be to substantiate how dangerous the job of policing actually is and how EF’n crazy a segment of the public can actually be.
This will be like the TV show cops on steroids, up close and personal. Ah technology, thou are a two faced Hi Def bitch.
I think it has more to do with the fact that the citizens are now acting far better when interacting with the officers instead of acting like animals and a-holes.
The cops don’t have to use as much force when the citizens just shut up and sit down. Acting nice and polite until everything is over.
Leave the acting stupid and crazy to the stupid and crazy people.
Even if the cop is wrong and you know it just sort it out in court. You have a far better chance of suing for something if it gets all the way to court.
People didn’t argue and fight with Andy and Barny. Why do they do it now? Whats the point?
Does fighting, arguing and running from the cops really produce good results often enough to be worth it?
I am happy that you find that acting reasonably and respectfully when dealing with the public, knowing how crazy a segment of the public is, is the best and most civilized way to go in such instances when one is engaged in dealing with the public.
This rule applies to both the police and the private sector, its just the best policy, but you have to take care of business when you are forced to take care of business whether there are cameras or not.