The
Miami Herald is reporting that Miami's police union filed a grievance a little over a week ago. In it they say:
Will distract officers from their duties, and hamper their ability to act and react in dangerous situations...
The paperwork comes a day after Gimenez publicly touted his proposal to spend about $1 million on 500 cameras next year in an effort to cut down on allegations of police misconduct.
But the Miami-Dade police say these pesky cameras will make the police too self-conscious. This will lead to indecision. This will lead to police in danger. How big are these cameras? Let's look at the company who manufactures these cameras in question—
Taser.
The company’s website shows cameras small enough to mount on eye glasses, hats or collars, with the capability of sending live footage remotely through a nearby cellphone. At the end of a shift, an officer docks the camera to a re-charging station and the footage gets uploaded to a Taser website, evidence.com.
Seems relatively easy to forget about. The fact of the matter is that cameras alone will not stop police misconduct, nor will it solve the broader issues we have in our country between law-enforcement and the people they police. But an unwillingness to recognize the need for objective data in these cases is silly. Cameras will allow honest law-enforcement protections from erroneous charges while also protecting citizens from police misconduct.