Vievu
The folks over at the millennial generation news site, News.Mic are reporting on how requiring police to wear video cameras has dramatically reduced violence and complaints against cops in Rialto, California:
Take the city of Rialto, California, for instance. In February 2012, the city's 70 police officers had to take part in a controlled study, obligating them to wear a tiny camera that filmed all their interactions with the public. The results were incredible: In the first year of the cameras' introduction, complaints against Rialto police officers fell by 88%, while use of force by officers fell by almost 60%. … "When you put a camera on a police officer, they tend to behave a little better, follow the rules a little better," Rialto Police Chief William A. Farrar told the New York Times. "And if a citizen knows the officer is wearing a camera, chances are the citizen will behave a little better."
Cities like New York, Baltimore, Fort Worth, Oakland, and the very troubled department in Albuquerque, New Mexico are now trying various pilot programs in which officers wear video cameras.
I made the case last year for mandatory cop cameras in my column, "Watched Cops Are Polite Cops." See below Reason TV's interview with Seattle ex-cop and founder of the police video company Vievu Steve Ward about the benefits of officer-worn cameras.
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