Spread of Body Cameras

A couple of weeks ago, I published Sound Familiar? pointing out that spotting trends is not difficult with a little bit of critical thinking and imagination.  So autonomous cars lead to autonomous trucks or robotic taxicabs or mail delivery.

In this case I was thinking about body cameras as two people on TV discussed how to clarify when police were using appropriate force.  This should be much more reliable than cellphone video that may capture only part of the exchange or even eyewitnesses whose memory often reflects their own prejudices.

But it’s not that straightforward, as one source tells us.  “The implementation of body-worn cameras has gained increased attention and use among law enforcement professionals, who use them for functions such as obtaining evidence during investigations, promoting officer safety, and improving law enforcement community relations, and accountability. Police body-worn cameras present novel legal and policy questions.”  These include questions of constitutionality, especially regarding privacy.

In another case, there seems to be a problem of the novelty wearing off.  “D.C. police officers wearing body cameras reported using force about as often as colleagues who didn’t have them, and citizen complaints against the two groups were about even, according to a new study that bucks early expectations about the impact of the devices.”  The report found this surprising, but considering that they had them for more than three years, the initial feeling of someone always watching, on both sides of the badge, can easily erode.  Think about reality shows or the people who volunteer to have cameras in their houses.  Before long they start behaving as if the cameras weren’t there.

Another problem is that the cameras cannot be always on.  Omaha is working with a company that sells a device to activate the camera automatically when officers draw their weapons or stun guns.  Ordinarily they “are on standby mode until an officer presses a button twice to activate it. It then will record audio and video — including video from the previous 30 seconds.”  But when acting in self-defense or in immediate emergencies, drawing the firearm take precedence over activating the camera.

Just the same, other cities, the later adapters, continue to buy the equipment.  For example, a headline reads, “Peoria police officers to widely use body cameras by spring [of 2018].”

This brings me to my projection.  Where will this lead?  With so many cases in the news of sexual assault and other altercations, cases where it’s often one person’s or one group’s word against another, how long before more and more people begin wearing some sort of recording device on a regular basis?  Look how far cell phones have come in the last decade.  Millions of people carry more computer power in their pocket today than was packed into the entire Cassini spacecraft that just dove into the planet Saturn after a twenty-year mission.  

So how long will it be until vendors start selling designer body cameras for self-defense and entertainment?  We already have sports cameras selling for less than $100 – wear it on your forehead to capture the thrills of skiing or snowboarding.  Other more expensive versions are less than half the size of a smart phone.  Some non-law enforcement folks have dash-cams mounted in their cars.  In the not-too-distant future we’ll be buying broaches and other jewelry with cameras and everyone will want one.  It will be like the old spy-movie spoofs, “Please repeat that into this button.”  Imagine the constitutional and privacy questions then!