Body Cameras Work - All Departments Should Use Them

This photo is of University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing (from NBC News). A few days ago, he stopped a Black man in Cincinnati for not having a front license plate on his car (a misdemeanor that warranted only a minor traffic ticket). He wound up shooting the driver (who was unarmed) in the head, and killing him.

The officer, in his report, claimed the unarmed man had assaulted him and then drove off, dragging the officer down the street. And that story seemed to be backed up by a fellow officer, who claimed Tensing's uniform looked like he had been dragged down the street.

We now know that those officers' reports were just some poorly written works of fiction -- and had nothing to do with the real facts of the case. How do we know this? Because the officer was wearing a body camera.

That body camera recorded the entire police stop, and it showed the officers were lying in their police reports. The driver was unarmed, was not confrontational or aggressive, did not assault the officer, and did not drag the officer down the street. In fact, the driver was dead (from a shot in the head) before the car ever started moving. Those facts are now undeniable, and because of that, Tensing has been indicted for murder by a Grand Jury.

Like it or not, this incident is not a rare occurrence. Far too many unarmed Black men are being killed by the police in this country. And most of them, justifiably or not, get away with it -- because most Americans, especially White Americans, put police on a pedestal -- and believe anything they say. And that is probably what would have happened in this case -- if it had not been for the body camera recording the truth of what happened.

There has been a debate recently over whether police should wear body cameras. I think this one incident should settle that debate. Body cameras work. They tell us the truth about what happened -- and every officer in every department should be required to wear one.

I do not speak as a hater of law enforcement officials. I worked in law enforcement myself for more than 25 years. Most of the people I worked with were honest, ethical, and did a very good job. But there are bad apples in every barrel, and body cameras can show us who they are -- hopefully before they kill someone.Good officers need to have no fear of wearing a body camera. It will just show what a good job they are doing. It's only the bad officers, who abuse the power they have been entrusted with, who will be affected by wearing a body camera.

I have had some people tell me that body cameras won't work, because bad officers will just turn them off before misbehaving. That can be dealt with. Simply fire any officer who turns off his body camera -- and personally, I wouldn't be opposed to making it a crime to do that (misdemeanor).

And while we're at it, one other change needs to be made nationwide. All police shootings should be investigated by an independent panel (that is not a part of the police department and does not answer to the department). No profession, or organization, should be allowed to investigate themselves -- and that includes law enforcement agencies.

Anyone who believes that most police officers are honest and do a good job, as I do, should not oppose either of these two things. They are just common sense measures -- and they will restore the respect and support all Americans need to have in their police.