Sheriff Candidate Mike Williams on Body Cameras

[Metro Jacksonville]

Sheriff Candidate Mike Williams on Body Cameras



Metrojacksonville has been gathering a series of clips and articles directly from the candidates in the 2015 municipal elections to speak on issues important to the voters of Jacksonville. In this clip Mike Williams, a candidate for Sheriff speaks on Body Cameras and privacy issues.

Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2015-may-sheriff-candidate-mike-williams-on-body-cameras

[JFman00]

Has JSO done any serious (white paper/memo) study on the the purely financial cost/benefit of body cameras? I.e. purchase and data storage costs vs. reduction in settlements in brutality/wrongful death cases? Are there any local obstacles to taking advantage of DoJ grant funds for purchase as well as training and technical assistance?

[coredumped]

How does it work in other cities in Florida? Orlando just got body cameras.
I say if they wanted to have them they would. JSO isn't concerned about rights or the Constitution when it comes to red light cameras and they sure pushed that through.
Really they should be behind them 100%, for their safety and ours.

[Cheshire Cat]

The JSO has done no complete study of the issue and the other thing that stood in the way was funding of the JSO.  This will be an issue that will come back up regardless of who wins the election and at that time I believe we will see an serious look at costs and a decisionson whether or not there is implementation which will be influenced by public sentiment.

[Redbaron616]

Privacy? How is anyone's interaction with a police officer covered (or even should be covered) by privacy laws? I fail to understand that argument.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

What Apache said, but I'd also like to add to his list the lack of privacy for the officers themselves as well.

If the cameras are rolling 100% of the time while they're on duty....  the stress of that alone would be enough for me to never want to come to work.  Imagine your boss/wife/nosy neighbor/etc... being able to review every step, every conversation, every minute of every day while you're at work just by filling out some paperwork for a public records request.  No thanks. 

[Jax native]

What Apache said, but I'd also like to add to his list the lack of privacy for the officers themselves as well.

If the cameras are rolling 100% of the time while they're on duty....  the stress of that alone would be enough for me to never want to come to work.  Imagine your boss/wife/nosy neighbor/etc... being able to review every step, every conversation, every minute of every day while you're at work just by filling out some paperwork for a public records request.  No thanks.

"the stress of that alone would be enough for me to never want to come to work.  Imagine your boss/wife/nosy neighbor/etc.....being able to view every step...............'

Imagine if you were the one paying these public service workers by our taxes.  The boss is the citizens of jacksonville, and if police are so scared, maybe they need to find a different line of work.  It's like the sunshine laws.  We have a right to see what police officers are doing or wasting their time doing.  We also have the right to witness the brutality and abuses police officers are making to the citizens. 

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Imagine if you were the one paying these public service workers by our taxes.  The boss is the citizens of jacksonville, and if police are so scared, maybe they need to find a different line of work.  It's like the sunshine laws.  We have a right to see what police officers are doing or wasting their time doing.  We also have the right to witness the brutality and abuses police officers are making to the citizens.

Wow.  I have the time and the competence to pick that statement to pieces;  I just don't feel like it.

If the technology was there for the cameras to come on just before and end just after any service call I would be 1,000% for it, implement it now.  Unfortunately, that's not the way it works, and I don't really care what Ofc. Wheaton is eating, what Ofc. Smith said about his boss or that Ofc. Taylor sings Journey really badly while driving around her zone.  But my lack of interest doesn't mean that others won't want to know every detail and that's totally unfair to the cops. 

It's also unfair to we the public if they use an off/on type switch and something important is not recorded, then we the taxpayers are liable for all of the civil costs that would come from that investigation.  Was it off for a reason?  What happened in the preceding 5 minutes that weren't on tape?  Will cases be thrown out due to 'improper' video taping? 

Think about how instant replay has changed the sports we watch and apply that to the job of the officers who are reacting, in real time, to various situations.  I see tremendous benefit, but I also see tremendous opportunity for abuse of the system. 

[Chaz1969]

one has no reasonable expectation of privacy in a public setting....court decisions on constitutional law have long held this.

[Keef11]

Don't we pay the salary of politicians too???  I say we give THEM body cameras!  And how did you know I sat naked eating Thai food???

Did anybody watch the debate for sheriff?  I caught the last few minutes of it.  IM NOT ATTACKING HERE  but I thought Williams did really good.  He looks like a sheriff.