tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310124704019321251.post5577939777941580292..comments2024-01-17T09:25:20.535-08:00Comments on Little Hollywood: City Committee Holds Final Forum on Body CamerasJanine Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15675857294721458218noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310124704019321251.post-13359201072210863042016-02-29T12:22:10.419-08:002016-02-29T12:22:10.419-08:00It’s clear that body cameras and dash cameras cann...It’s clear that body cameras and dash cameras cannot by themselves change police behavior nor can they apparently convince a jury that police wrongdoing occurred, but they are a tool that, with increased usage and growing public outrage over police violence, are likely to result in more police accountability. <br /><br />It’s not only the high-profile cases like that of Rodney King and Native American woodcarver John T. Williams (shot and killed by the Seattle Police Department in September 2010) that need to be witnessed. <br />I recently met a local woman who told me that she called 911 when her husband – a veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress -- had a gun to his head and was threatening to kill himself. Sadly, when law enforcement arrived, they didn’t listen to her repeated pleas that her husband needed help and her assertion that she had not been harmed by him; rather, officers charged the husband with domestic violence and other serious charges. The State in its eagerness to prosecute for DV still refuses to believe her. What would we have seen had there been video footage of the scene when law enforcement first arrived?<br /><br />Attorney Bradden Ferber was killed by the Olympia Police Dept. on May 4, 2012. The coroner’s report indicated that Ferber shot himself prior to being shot in the stomach by the OPD--or that the shootings were “almost” simultaneous. What if there had been reliable and clear video footage of the incident?<br /><br />Tyrone Johnson was on his way to work late at night on an emergency outage call for his employer CenturyLink in Olympia in summer of 2014 when he was followed by an OPD officer (the same one who a year later shot the two half-brothers suspected of trying to steal beer from Safeway). A total of six OPD officers ultimately went to Johnson’s workplace and pulled guns on him. Mr. Johnson felt so traumatized that he was never able to return to his job and has hired an attorney ho filed a $1 million claim against the city. What would we have seen if there had been video footage of this incident?<br /> <br />And then there are the thousands of incidents so common in this system: the punishment of people who are poor, houseless, perhaps addicted to one substance or another--the death-by-a thousand cuts that keeps law enforcement, the court system, and the prison system churning out criminals. It’s truly a war on poor people--one that is so pervasive that, sadly, it cannot be captured by body-worn cameras.<br /><br />As a city, we can and must do better than this. In spite of the many thorny issues involved, I feel that body cameras and dashboard cameras have a role to play in bringing to light the reality of police encounters with residents.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03704834697361041456noreply@blogger.com