Just saying how would they behave if they were on camera when they are on duty? Probably would have less brutality cases, shootings of unarmed supspects, etc.
Putting cameras on police officers is an idea whose time has come - The Washington Post

 

No.

 

Yes

 

Yeah, I'd say so.

 

yeah, it might have that effect.

Although will anyone be surprised when footage invariably 'goes missing' when there's a controversial case?

 

Yep, there are plenty of good reasons for it. It's an idea that's already being explored in the UK BBC News - Metropolitan Police officers start wearing body cameras
But then there's also this.

 

In which that gives grounds that the cop was in the wrong and cops will be held liable for their cameras

 

Yes, and all footage should be streamed in real time to a publicly available repository for data. There should also be stiff penalties for police who deliberately tamper with or obstruct these cameras.

 

Yes, and not just for the sake of the public, but for the cops themselves.

I know that if I were a police officer, I'd feel better knowing that I had video of everything. Think about how helpful dash-cams have been in patrol cars.

 

Well, as not to delve into rule 3 here I feel my hands are pretty tied in this discussion, but I will say this.. There is a lot of cops in this country, and that is a lot of bandwidth. A lot of Tax dollars. Dash cams are the best answer for now financially speaking.

 

Yep. It'd make their lives both better and worse, but it'd definitely give the public more faith and would take the guessing game out of shootings and what force was necessary.

 

Even the police are not above Moore's Law.

 

Yes. its absolutely needed to reign in those cops who make them all look bad.

 

100% yes, and the footage needs to feed into a third party server/and or backup separate from the police department for archiving and public access available 24 hours a day.

Edit: Aeneroth as always got there before everyone else.

Seconded, at least.

 

Well, anything the police can see while in uniform would be considered "public" from an evidence standpoint, I'd think. That's how "plain sight" laws work, I think.

As for funding, well, there doesn't seem to be any problem spending over $100billion on police each year right now in the US, maybe some departments could do without some of their fancier toys like MRAP vehicles and other formerly military gear.

 

I have a degree in criminal justice and am generally in favor of stronger police powers, and I still say yes. Accountability's always going to be important.

 

Hmmmm... I'd say yes.

 

Yes.

It's in the interest of the public to ensure that they are protected from officers who either don't do their job properly or just plain abuse their position of trust. Then there's the the value to the legal process, as well as helping to protect officers from false claims of misconduct. Traffic violations are already captures on on-board cameras in Police cars, as well as violence from suspects or from law enforcement officers themselves.

It's a win/win argument in every way. Unless of course, you're a criminal or a bad cop.