Chicago, IL – The FBI director says police anxiety in “the era of viral videos” appears to be part of the reason for rising violent crime in several big U.S. cities.
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James Comey (KOH’-mee) spoke Friday at a University of Chicago Law School forum.
Comey referred to a spike in violence in several cities from Chicago to Dallas. He told several hundred students there may be multiple explanations for the increase in homicides and other violent crimes.
But he says officers nationwide tell him they fear the presence of cellphone video everywhere they go.
Comey’s comments echo Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s recent remarks. Emanuel has said Chicago police officers are going “fetal,” pulling back and second-guessing themselves for fear that scrutiny of their actions will get them into serious trouble.
This is a non-issue. The camera cannot be un-invented. The police need to get used to it, just like the rest of us. Soon you will just have to assume you will be on video anytime you are out of your house.
Maybe that is good. Maybe that is bad, but it just is.
As much as I respect police, I shudder every time I see another video of police violating law to make problems for drivers or others, when they are clearly being personally defensive. I glow with pride to see them, occasionally, recognizing the right to use a camera to photograph or video whatever they want, including the police stops. If this is what makes police scared, then their training needs to be updated.
If videos are used to incite, the problem is not the video, but the incitement. That is criminal, and is unrelated to gender, race, or culture. It should be pursued and prosecuted. But there is no reason that law enforcement should not police itself.
It’s real simple:
If police do something criminal, then they are criminals, themselves.
If Police abide by the Law, they have nothing to fear.
Only criminals, fear the camera video.
If you did nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear.
Cops need to decide which side of the Law they are on. If they follow the Law, they have nothing to fear.
The real problem is the the cops who are supposed to uphold the Law, most of them blatantly violate the law, regularly and that’s the only reason why cops fear the camera.
Cops park illegally every single day, just to eat lunch and the speed run trough red light, regularly, with sirens on, just to get a coffee break.
If cops violate the law they belong behind bars and the camera will deliver them to jail.