Good Read

 

Everybody in Every Profession Should Wear Body Cameras - Lifeline Training - LawOfficer.com

There are people, groups and even media types that believe all cops are extensions of the brown-shirted head thumpers found in Nazi Germany 70 years ago. Heartless, soulless androids who joined the profession hoping to thump heads and shoot as many as possible...

 

Again, it is true that some police officers misuse their authority and purposely injure citizens while using unnecessary and sometimes illegal force. Yep, we gotta admit that some people in our profession, on occasion–contextually on very rare occasion–misuse their authority and disgrace their office. No argument. Now something just as obvious but almost never addressed: There are people in every profession that injure others due to negligence and incompetence. Let’s take just one example for comparison: The medical profession.

 

The Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) study shows medical errors as being the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. According to the study, 98,000 people die annually because of poor decisions and reckless behaviors by medical personnel. From the American Association of Justice website: “Further research has confirmed the extent of medical errors. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that there were 181,000 severe injuries attributable to medical negligence in 2003. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement estimates there are 15 million incidents of medical harm each year. HealthGrades, the nation’s leading healthcare rating organization, found that Medicare patients who experienced a patient-safety incident had a one-in-five chance of dying as a result.” http://www.justice.org/cps/rde/justice/hs.xsl/8677.htm

 

So where’s the outrage and disdain for health professionals? It doesn’t exist. On the contrary, three of the most trusted professions in the United States are in the medical field, despite the facts outlined above. According to Gallup, nurses are number one (I agree with this because of my prejudice, my daughter Kara is a brilliant and particularly caring nurse who works with terminally ill children). Pharmacists are second and Doctors are fourth (my cousin Terry, married to a nurse, donates his time to help the poor in other countries and his list of selfless accomplishments and the number of lives he has affected are too numerous to mention here).

 

Where are cops on that list by the way? Number Six; right behind the military and just ahead of the Clergy. So why doesn’t the media cover the 98,000 people a year statistic? Why aren’t the incidents replayed on the nightly news, on cable and trending on the net? 98,000 seems like a lot. But of course it pales in comparison to the numbers killed by law enforcement. What is that number by the way?

 

5,000.

 

Wait, did you say 5,000? Yep, that’s right: 5,000, which is still a lot, but let’s consider the reality of that number. First off, that 5,000 is over a ten year period - a decade- not 12 months. Second, the vast, vast majority of those deaths were justifiable. In other words, the people who were killed were participating in behavior that put the lives of others at imminent risk of death. Behavior that forced a police officer to use deadly force.

 

The taking of a life is not something that should be addressed in glib fashion for sure. But watch the tube, listen to the elite and read the vile websites that exist only to vilify the police as a whole and you’d think it’s in the hundreds of thousands. So why the constant circumspection of police use of force? Well, to the untrained eye the using of real force on real people doesn’t look too good. To the untrained and uninformed eyes of those who have absolutely no understanding or exposure to real violence, they look terrible. Why? Because most people have never seen real violence and because of cop TV shows and movies, most think they both understand and can do the job.

 

Citizens watch Adam 12, NYPD Blue, The Wire, The Shield, Law and Order and suddenly they’re experts on law enforcement tactics and procedures. The incredibly poor and stupid tactics of TV police is laughable to those in the profession and pollute the minds of the masses watching that nonsense. Citizens don’t have any context concerning how fast someone can move when hell-bent on injuring a cop. They don’t understand that a bullet travelling at roughly 1,000-feet-a-second happens faster than you can blink. Hell, it happens faster than you can think.

 

So when they see real force being used on real people in the real world, in their minds they have context from which to judge: TV and Movies. But, if they watch Marcus Welby, House, ER, Scrubs, or Grey’s Anatomy the average viewer doesn’t walk away thinking they know how to take out an appendix or by-pass an artery.

 

If YouTube featured a botched spinal tap that resulted in paralysis, the average person would have no idea what they were watching; no thought of Monday morning quarterbacking the surgeon. Besides, videos of medical procedures, after the first couple of seconds, are boring. But not videos of cops swinging batons, firing Tazers or shooting their guns!

 

Why I think police are under such scrutiny is twofold:

 

1. Cops have power and authority that the general public doesn’t have. And people are rightfully wary of that power and the police should be accountable to the public.

 

2. Cops have cameras, victims have cameras, suspects have cameras and witnesses have cameras. Even nonhumans (traffic signals, surveillance systems, etc.) have cameras and what makes it on those cameras makes it into the media. There is more examination, discussion, posts and blogs about the most inane of police use of force than there is about tens of thousands of patients dying needlessly during a medical procedure.

 

So here is my idea: everyone in every profession must immediately start wearing body cameras that will record everything said or done while on the job. Nurses, doctors, pharmacists, midwives, receptionists at hospitals, all have to record their every-doings. Criticism from hindsight delight–let’s go!

 

But let’s not stop there. How about the Clergy? They talk to someone (outside of a confessional) it has to be recorded. Counselors? Record the sessions, how do we know you aren’t emotionally abusing patients? Politicians, lobbyists, interns and staff members: record it all! Let’s see what really happens in those negotiations. What is being discussed between congressman, senators, Presidents and their staffs? Let’s listen and examine, condemn and complain.

 

And the media? Absolutely! While claiming to be champions of people’s rights do sales, clicks and page views ever come up when a story is being written? Do media members ever trample right over their ethical obligations in order to advance a personal bias? Do they ever lie and slant stories in order to spread a false belief? Have false, misleading and inaccurate articles and news clips ever caused riots and injuries?

 

Cops should be under the microscope. We should be held accountable when we make mistakes. How about everybody else?

So when your health care professional is listening to your utmost private problems, bathing you, catheterizing you, operating on you...this author thinks this should be on camera?

So when your health care professional is listening to your utmost private problems, bathing you, catheterizing you, operating on you...this author thinks this should be on camera?

 

I think you are missing the point. But why not, if it would all be protected and could only be accessed by court order.

I think you are missing the point. But why not, if it would all be protected and could only be accessed by court order.

 

I don't like it. Stuff gets leaked, like it or not. Just ask banks and credit card companies. If I'm at the urologists, I think the least of my worries should be whether or not someone can get ahold of video footage of my wang.

I understand what the author is trying to say but their comparison is silly. First off, most people can, to a large extent, choose their doctor. They don't choose their interaction with the police. (I know that you could say that their actions were their choice but we're talking about alleged cases of abuse by police--most people don't choose to confront the police) Secondly, what did they mean, "Where's the outrage"? Ever wonder why health care rates are so high? Malpractice lawsuits have plenty to do with that. I don't think most people who are harmed or have their loved ones harmed by poor medical procedures just let them go. As for the camera thing? In a lot of professions everything that you do on the job is subject to being recorded. Dispatchers on the railroad have every radio conversation, phone conversation and mouse click monitored. All radio transmissions of train crews are recorded as well as every movement of the train. I know other jobs are much the same when they deal with situations that can cause great injury or property damage. EVERY study that I have seen (and I know they are very new) has shown that the use of force by officers has went down in departments that employ body cameras. In addition, complaints of police brutality have went down as well. Where's the downside to that? I know that we are told a lot that if the officer makes a mistake that they might not come home that night so they are always going to err on the side of caution in regards to protecting themselves. That doesn't mean an err in judgment, even if not malicious, should not be met with severe consequences in regards to the use of force. The public deserves to get to go home safe every night just as much as the officers.

I'd love to see the look from college coaches if I walked around an AAU event with a camera recording everything... :lol2:

I understand what the author is trying to say but their comparison is silly. First off, most people can, to a large extent, choose their doctor. They don't choose their interaction with the police. (I know that you could say that their actions were their choice but we're talking about alleged cases of abuse by police--most people don't choose to confront the police) Secondly, what did they mean, "Where's the outrage"? Ever wonder why health care rates are so high? Malpractice lawsuits have plenty to do with that. I don't think most people who are harmed or have their loved ones harmed by poor medical procedures just let them go. As for the camera thing? In a lot of professions everything that you do on the job is subject to being recorded. Dispatchers on the railroad have every radio conversation, phone conversation and mouse click monitored. All radio transmissions of train crews are recorded as well as every movement of the train. I know other jobs are much the same when they deal with situations that can cause great injury or property damage. EVERY study that I have seen (and I know they are very new) has shown that the use of force by officers has went down in departments that employ body cameras. In addition, complaints of police brutality have went down as well. Where's the downside to that? I know that we are told a lot that if the officer makes a mistake that they might not come home that night so they are always going to err on the side of caution in regards to protecting themselves. That doesn't mean an err in judgment, even if not malicious, should not be met with severe consequences in regards to the use of force. The public deserves to get to go home safe every night just as much as the officers.

It is not a silly comparison, it is a great comparison. While you may or may not choose your doctor depending on the circumstances, if they or someone else screws up it is not as obvious as if a police officer screws up. In most cases the survivors family have no idea that the doctor/nurse/hospital did something that suddenly caused their loved one to take a turn for the worse.

 

The train example is great it should be monitored just as airline traffic should.

I don't like it. Stuff gets leaked, like it or not. Just ask banks and credit card companies. If I'm at the urologists, I think the least of my worries should be whether or not someone can get ahold of video footage of my wang.

Then you sue Dr/Hospital for a large pile of $$$. Trust me Doctors and Hospitals are more worried about being sued than just about anything else...they'll do everything they can to protect your wang!

It is not a silly comparison, it is a great comparison. While you may or may not choose your doctor depending on the circumstances, if they or someone else screws up it is not as obvious as if a police officer screws up. In most cases the survivors family have no idea that the doctor/nurse/hospital did something that suddenly caused their loved one to take a turn for the worse.

 

The train example is great it should be monitored just as airline traffic should.

 

As should police...

I have no problem with police officers wearing body cameras...but it seems as if you have a several times better chance of dying at the hands of your local medical professional (that you picked) than a random interaction with a police officer.

 

If a police officer shoots someone those are largely justified shootings.

 

If the Hospital screws up and kills someone is that ever justified? I had a neighbor in Indiana that was convicted of 6 murders and thought to have committed as many as 130 while on duty as a nurse. Maybe if his actions could have been reviewed via video recordings 100 or so people could have been saved.

I think you are missing the point. But why not, if it would all be protected and could only be accessed by court order.

 

Not missing the point at all. I am a health professional and a health care consumer. As Averge Joe said, the comparison is silly. It is also illegal on many levels.

I wish I could.

The author concedes why police are under such scrutiny: "Cops have power and authority that the general public doesn’t have." And it is a significant amount of power and authority. The other professions he lists are not entrusted with such authority by the public. He's answered his own question, hasn't he?

 

I mean, no one says that police need to be transparent and accountable because, as a profession, they are unusually bad at their jobs. They are probably unusually good at their jobs, as a profession. They are just entrusted with a level of authority and discretion that almost no one else is, and the people who entrust them with this authority ought to know how it's being used.

The author isn't very intelligent. Very bad comparison.

It is not a silly comparison, it is a great comparison. While you may or may not choose your doctor depending on the circumstances, if they or someone else screws up it is not as obvious as if a police officer screws up. In most cases the survivors family have no idea that the doctor/nurse/hospital did something that suddenly caused their loved one to take a turn for the worse.

 

The train example is great it should be monitored just as airline traffic should.

 

 

No, no way. There are doctors who will testify as medical experts for pay. Not even close.

 

As an attorney or doctor, you have privileges against testimony in many cases for exactly the same reasons that things shouldn't be recorded.

 

When every officer goes through law school or medical school, then they can start making judgment calls that you learn along the way. Sorry if that sounds conceited, but that's how I look at it.

 

Also, most of the ACLU calls for officers wearing cameras say that there are times when they want them to be required to be turned off: ex., when entering someone's home. They just want the cameras on in public areas when it's legal to record anyway.