In Wake Of Ferguson, Miami-Dade Mayor Wants 'A Camera On Every Police Officer'

[Uncle Joe]

Miami-Dade mayor: ‘I want a camera on every police officer’

In the wake of national outrage over alleged police misconduct in Ferguson, Mo., Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez on Thursday vowed to make “body cameras” mandatory for all county patrol officers.

His proposed budget calls for purchasing 500 of the mini cameras, enough to outfit about half of Miami-Dade’s patrol force. Made by Taser, they’re small enough to snap onto a pair of glasses or a hat in order to record everything an officer sees.

“I want a camera on every police officer,” Gimenez told the audience at a budget town hall meeting in Little Haiti.

Gimenez’s strong words put Miami-Dade, one of the largest local governments in the country, on the forefront of a national debate over police cameras in the wake of the Ferguson shooting of an unarmed teenager by an officer. Days of unrest followed, with protestors alleging homicide and authorities saying they didn’t yet have enough evidence to pass judgement. Civil-liberties activists have raised concerns about a police force essentially filming every civilian they come in contact with.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/08/21/4302372/miami-dade-mayor-i-want-a-camera.html#storylink=cpy

[Cali_Democrat]

1. Excellent. This needs to become a nationwide trend

Here's the White House petition:

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/mike-brown-law-requires-all-state-county-and-local-police-wear-camera/8tlS5czf

Mike Brown Law. Requires all state, county, and local police to wear a camera.

Create a bill, sign into law, and set aside funds to require all state,county, and local police, to wear a camera. Due to the latest accounts of deadly encounters with police, We the People, petition for the Mike Brown Law. Create a bill, sign into law, and set aside funds to require all state,county, and local police, to wear a camera.The law shall be made in an effort to not only detour police misconduct(i.e. brutality, profiling, abuse of power), but to ensure that all police are following procedure, and to remove all question, from normally questionable police encounters. As well, as help to hold all parties within a police investigation, accountable for their actions.

While the petition isn't legally binding or anything like that, it certainly can bring visibility to this issue.

[Uncle Joe]

4. I agree, Cali_Democrat, the petition is a good start and can send a vital message,

as if they haven't gotten it already.

[littlemissmartypants]

5. Hey Darlin'

I knew that I would find you here, concurring.

[Uncle Joe]

8. Hey, Darlin.

We concur.

[FarPoint]

11. This is most reasonable....and necessary.

Yet, in light of the sparsely filed incident report on the Mike Brown shooting, what will compelling the police to actually release the videos?

[littlemissmartypants]

6. Thanks for your post. nt

[geomon666]

2. They desperately need that shit here.

No off switch either.

[Cali_Democrat]

3. Yes.

And the video should be uploaded to a cloud server.

No tape can be destroyed by the officer.

[littlemissmartypants]

7. Excellent catch, Uncle Joe.

Be careful what you wish for...

~Lmsp 🙌

[Uncle Joe]

9. I hear you, littlemissmartypants, I have some concerns about privacy as well, but I

believe that good regulations could be enacted to alleviate most of those concerns.

I also believe given the inherent martial power of the police to arrest, potentially brutalize and kill, with that kind of risk to the public, requiring the police to wear cameras while on duty, outweigh trade-offs in privacy.

Finally I believe this will have a positive effect on both the police and publics' behavior, it may save police lives in addition to those of the people they encounter with the final side benefit of possibly reducing police corruption; or being on the take.

[Enthusiast]

10. Kicked and recommended!

This could transform policing in Miami-Dade. Thank you, Uncle Joe!

[ReRe]

12. For or against Civil Liberties....

... the electorate needs to decide. One thing is for sure: something's got to change. If our police force in this country is full of bigots and liars, then we either have to normalize these dudes back into the American society and then retrain them or make them wear cameras.

Next time I'm at a protest, there will be a little eye on me somewhere, and a digital recorder in my breast pocket, and my cell phone right out front.