Dashcam Tampering

[Vashta Nerada]

Last year, the courts found that police car video was included in the Oklahoma Open Records Act -- except for OHP, ABLE and other arms of the Department of Public safety -- who would only agree to surrendering their exemption if the Act itself were weakened.

...Not just for them, but for all police agencies in the state.
Now it will be legal for police to edit any video to suit their needs before releasing it to media or the courts, which seems to show contempt for the reason the courts ordered the recordings in the first place.

LAPD is currently in trouble for turning a blind eye to widespread sabotage of their police dashcams:
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-lapd-tamper-20140408,0,7666331.story

...but why go to all the trouble if the department leadership will just hide any embarrassing records:


BLOOMFIELD, NJ -- The tale of the police dashcam video has now helped clear a Bloomfield, New Jersey man who faced a multitude of criminal charges, including eluding police and assault.

It was quite a turnabout, all the criminal charges against Marcus Jeter have been dismissed, and two Bloomfield police officers have been indicted for falsifying reports, and one of them, for assault. A third pleaded guilty early on to tampering...thanks to those dashcam tapes that prosecutors say they never saw.
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/national_world&id=9441539





All Criminal charges against Jeter were dismissed after the police dashcam from Trinidad's car surfaced.
Previously unavailable from the Bloomfield Police Department, Brown said he obtained that recording through an Open Public Records Act request.

"What [the second, withheld dash cam] captured was the fact that Mr. Jeter was not trying to resist arrest, was not trying to disarm a police officer, [and] was sitting in the vehicle with [his] hands up," Brown told Bloomfield Life on Monday.


http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2014/02/bloomfield_mayor_alleges_cover_up_in_dashboard-cam_indicment_vows_to_purge_police_department_of_bad.html


Jeter's attorney, Stephen Brown, said one of the videos shows an officer - armed with a shotgun - circling Jeter's car after he stopped the vehicle on the Garden State Parkway.

Brown said Jeter put his hands in the air and had his seat belt buckled, prompting the officer to break the driver's side window so he could unbuckle Jeter.

A second video shows a second police cruiser crossing the center median and slamming into Jeter's car head-on, Brown said.
"When he told me that a police car rammed him, I couldn't believe it," Brown said. "Once we got the dashcam video from the car that rammed into Jeter's car, they dropped the whole complaint.

The dashcam videos from the two police cars also show the officers punching Jeter and wrestling him to the ground, shouting, "Stop resisting," Brown said. 
The footage also shows him pulling straight over, despite being charged with eluding.

A third officer has pleading guilty to tampering with evidence and retired from the force.

Why does this matter to Tulsa, Oklahoma? 
See if you recognize any of these currently popular stock phrases police used to justify their actions:

BLOOMFIELD, N.J. (WABC) -- A police officer in New Jersey seen in dashcam video who is now facing charges of assault is speaking out.

"I was completely scared. I didn't know if I was going to go home that night," said Orlando Trinidad, a Bloomfield Police Officer.

Police dashcam video that resulted in criminal charges being filed against the Bloomfield, New Jersey police officers, including 33-year-old Orlando Trinidad. Trinidad has now been indicted on conspiracy, official misconduct and assault.

"It's a 30 second clip of a 10 to 15 minute video. It doesn't show you anything that led to that," Trinidad said.
Police refused to release the remainder of that video.

Trinidad says he responded to a call of a man "eluding" police. The officer drove head-on into the car driven by 37-year-old Marcus Jeter.
Trinidad says the two others officers already on the scene pulled Jeter out of the car. One was yelling.

"Officer (inaudible) is still yelling, 'He's got my gun' or 'he tried to get my gun' and at that point, I'm in fear for my life and my partner's life," Trinidad said, "And I struck Mr. Jeter to his backside, trying to get his hands."

"You're repeatedly hitting him," Eyewitness News Investigative reporter Sarah Wallace said.

"He's not giving me his hands. And at that point, I still don't know if he's got a gun on him," Trinidad said.

"So now you get to the car and you hit him again," Wallace said.

"That was to get him to stop resisting, to get him in the car, to get him to calm down," Trinidad said.

[cannon_fodder]

So?

Tulsa Police is under a Federal Court Order to install dash cams to help stop institutional corruption and racial profiling (this was before the more recent federal indictments of TPD for corruption).  TPD simply hasn't done it.  They need more years to get it done (other departments have competed then entire process in a querter of the time).

When it is done, they will fight every request.

When the video does show something, it will be misplaced, malfunctioning, or wasn't on.

I have never seen TPD produce any video that wasn't favorable to them.

Police *should* want video to protect them from bogus charges and to aid in legitimate prosecutions.  If the police resist cameras, it is because what they do to serve and protect is none of your damn business.  Know move along citizen.

http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=15579.5;wap2

[Conan71]

So?

Tulsa Police is under a Federal Court Order to install dash cams to help stop institutional corruption and racial profiling (this was before the more recent federal indictments of TPD for corruption).  TPD simply hasn't done it.  They need more years to get it done (other departments have competed then entire process in a querter of the time).

When it is done, they will fight every request.

When the video does show something, it will be misplaced, malfunctioning, or wasn't on.

I have never seen TPD produce any video that wasn't favorable to them.

Police *should* want video to protect them from bogus charges and to aid in legitimate prosecutions.  If the police resist cameras, it is because what they do to serve and protect is none of your damn business.  Know move along citizen.

http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=15579.5;wap2

They simply want it for evidence collection when it benefits them. The original push for dash cams came after the slaying of officer Gus Spanos around 20 years ago.  They said it would have helped catch his killer much quicker.  They spent a ton of money on the cams and it seems like they were all broken or inoperative within a couple of years.

[Vashta Nerada]

Officer Gus Spanos would still be alive if TPD had set up dashboard cameras in an honest, timely manner,
because TPD would have fired him.

[Hoss]

Officer Gus Spanos would still be alive if TPD had set up dashboard cameras in an honest, timely manner,
because TPD would have fired him.

Can you cite any sources?  Reports filed?

[Breadburner]

Officer Gus Spanos would still be alive if TPD had set up dashboard cameras in an honest, timely manner,
because TPD would have fired him.

A camera would not have saved his life at all....

[Conan71]

A camera would not have saved his life at all....

I think Vashta is trying to make a point that a camera would have caught him doing something corrupt or bullying long before he got killed and gotten him jack-booted off the force.

[Breadburner]

I think Vashta is trying to make a point that a camera would have caught him doing something corrupt or bullying long before he got killed and gotten him jack-booted off the force.

What a D!ck.....!

[patric]

They simply want it for evidence collection when it benefits them. The original push for dash cams came after the slaying of officer Gus Spanos around 20 years ago.  They said it would have helped catch his killer much quicker.  They spent a ton of money on the cams and it seems like they were all broken or inoperative within a couple of years.

Since the court-ordered dashcams were only about half completed, whats the outlook on Tulsa upgrading to body-worn cameras, since the feds are offering to pay for half?


Obama to provide funding for 50,000 police body cameras

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/225583-obama-to-provide-funding-for-50000-police-body-cameras

President Obama on Monday will announce $263 million in funding for law enforcement agencies to purchase body-worn cameras and improve training.
The White House said the funding, which would need to be matched by state and local police, could purchase 50,000 body-worn cameras.

[Gaspar]

Why just the police?  Why not require all citizens to wear some form of monitoring device to document legal behavior? 

Imagine the crime that would prevent.  Michael Brown would probably be alive today if he were wearing a body camera the day he assaulted and robbed that convenience store clerk.

The program could be setup as some form of individual mandate. You could make it constitutional by representing it as a tax. There could be a fine (tax) for not wearing your tracking/monitoring device.

Of course, it would probably be difficult to get participation at first, and some would consider it an invasion of privacy, so you would want to ease the public into it by requiring it at the employer level in order to obtain liability insurance.  Just think about it!  This would help promote healthy and safe work environments and serve to thwart all kinds of business liability like sexual harassment, violation of OSHA regulations, and hundreds of other dubious labor practices.

Of course not all devices/services are the same so the government would need to regulate offerings to insure quality, compatibility and reliability. Individuals not on any sanctioned employer program would be required to purchase individual tracking & monitoring services through a limited exchange of suppliers that meet stringent requirements.  Ultimately all data would need to be centrally archived and maintained as well.

We would probably need to start with just audio, GPS, and 3D accelerometer data, and ease our way into full video and 3D situational modeling.

I think we've stumbled on something brilliant! What should we call it?

[heironymouspasparagus]

What a D!ck.....!

FINALLY!!  I never believed I would live to see the day you finally got one right!!  Spanos was that all right!!  Didn't deserve to die, though, so Kimbrough should have!  Good to see there is at least a glimmer of thought behind all the yeasty wheat!


Am reminded of Thurman Spybuck back in the early 70's....killed by "friendly fire" from a second officer at the front of the house they "raided"....without warrant.  No uniforms.  No declaration of who they were...just busted in and started their "OK Corral" action.  Gung Ho, Gunga-Din!!   The piss-ant they busted in on had a .22, but didn't appear to be fired, according to reports at the time.  Spybuck was killed with a larger diameter, most likely .38 caliber....

[Breadburner]

FINALLY!!  I never believed I would live to see the day you finally got one right!!  Spanos was that all right!!  Didn't deserve to die, though, so Kimbrough should have!  Good to see there is at least a glimmer of thought behind all the yeasty wheat!


Am reminded of Thurman Spybuck back in the early 70's....killed by "friendly fire" from a second officer at the front of the house they "raided"....without warrant.  No uniforms.  No declaration of who they were...just busted in and started their "OK Corral" action.  Gung Ho, Gunga-Din!!   The piss-ant they busted in on had a .22, but didn't appear to be fired, according to reports at the time.  Spybuck was killed with a larger diameter, most likely .38 caliber....

I was not referring to Spanos.......

[RecycleMichael]

Am reminded of Thurman Spybuck back in the early 70's....killed by "friendly fire" from a second officer at the front of the house they "raided"....without warrant.  No uniforms.  No declaration of who they were...just busted in and started their "OK Corral" action.  Gung Ho, Gunga-Din!!   The piss-ant they busted in on had a .22, but didn't appear to be fired, according to reports at the time.  Spybuck was killed with a larger diameter, most likely .38 caliber....

I remember the case very well. My father was on the force at the time and he had a son that was close to my age that I played baseball with. Losing a father to gunfire really affected my views on guns to this day.

Your facts from 1971 seem fuzzy. There was probably a lot from the 1970s that you don't remember clearly. Here are transcripts from the appeals trial and the officer's version of that day. It is an interesting read.

http://law.justia.com/cases/oklahoma/court-of-appeals-criminal/1972/59701.html

[Red Arrow]

I think we've stumbled on something brilliant! What should we call it?

You mean other than invasion of privacy?  Full time video.  There are some things I just don't need to see.

[Gaspar]

You mean other than invasion of privacy?  Full time video.  There are some things I just don't need to see.

'RING' 'RING'

"Yes, Mr. Arrow, we've noticed you've switched hands this week.  Is there some issue we need to be aware of?"