Body Cameras Exonerate Officers, Again

By John Dempsey

Until a couple of years ago, the news media and those on social media were easily able to sensationalize the dirty side of policing. Incidents where police officers used force involving combative subjects, were– and still are–a point of contention. Bystanders would capture encounters between law enforcement and a suspect in an investigation on their cellphones, then give the video to the press or simply post it on social media themselves. The editors would cut the video and not show the entire incident, leaving out events leading up to the officer using force on a suspect.

The Rodney King incident and the subsequent Los Angeles riots in 1991 are a perfect example. Events leading up to the arrest of King were not caught on tape. The nation saw Rodney King getting struck with batons and kicked by several Los Angeles Police Department officers. There was no clarity as to what happened leading up to the incident, giving law enforcement a black eye. Those officers were acquitted, but the optics remained.

The media got a taste of what it is like to get a clip of police using force against a subject and the ratings it brings. It was like …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms