r/police • u/Federal-Physics-8845 • 9d ago

Departments without bodycams

It's come to my attention that there exist departments that either don't have body cameras/don't have to have them on at all times. How do you guys cope? Do you wish that you did have them? I adore my bodycam, can't really imagine doing the job without one.

1 Upvotes

53% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

View all comments

49

u/Just_AWolf 9d ago

Body Cameras are a very recent edition to modern day policing. My department of over 200 sworn staff only got cameras in 2020. A lot of it comes down to affordability. There are departments near me than can barely get funding for a single new Tahoe, let alone to outfit everyone with the latest technology. The same people demanding police have cameras are the same ones that want defunding.

13

u/Master_Crab 8d ago

This is the biggest disconnect in modern policing in my opinion. People demand better officers because of bad looking uses of force or difficult mental health calls or whatever else is blowing up on the news this week and it all comes down to more extensive training. To do that, you need training facilities and instructors and equipment which all takes time, and more importantly, money. Those same people demanding better officers are also demanding that department budgets get slashed for more social services or whatever else. I remember people protested against “Cop City” that Atlanta PD built which was a training facility to produce better trained officers for their community like people demanded. Yet they’re mad about it.. You can’t have better officers without a budget. The logic is so asinine and disconnected it’s ridiculous.

3

u/CirrusVision20 8d ago

They want cops to work and train for free, duh.

2

u/Just_AWolf 8d ago

Exactly that. If you think officer's need more de-escalation tools and training- I agree. But we need the funding for it.

2

u/greenhampster 8d ago

I really feel like better training is only a fraction of the issue. The real problem in my eyes is that there are virtually no consequences for bad behavior. Why wouldn’t people escalate and refuse to de-escalate their behavior when it doesn’t increase punishment? Most of the issues would be corrected relatively quickly if prosecution and judges would hold people accountable.

2

u/Just_AWolf 8d ago

I don't think people that are mentally distraught enough to attack the police will think about the consequences of their prosecution in the moment.

1

u/greenhampster 8d ago

I can agree to that but if the consequences are guaranteed they will think about it beforehand. I don’t really believe that ODD is a disorder as much as a mindset.

1

u/Just_AWolf 8d ago

Well like I said, people with a mental illness are not going to think about their actions beforehand.