Police News, Fashion, And A Touch Of Juicy Gossip
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Gallatin County, Illinois Sheriff Raymond Martin
was sitting in the county jail last Saturday when his wife and son stopped by for a visit. Nothing odd about this scenario, right? Well, things weren’t quite as normal as they sound. You see, the good sheriff was actually locked inside a jail cell awaiting trial for selling marijuana while on duty. To add insult to injury, Martin was arrested again while waiting for his family’s visit. AND, his wife and son were also arrested when they arrived for the visit. The new charges were for solicitation of murder. Who’s murder? Perhaps the informant who snitched to the Feds…
Check out the latest trend in police wear – head cams. Yes, now officers have the capability to record interaction with criminal suspects, allowing judges and jury members to see things through the officer’s eyes. No longer will courts have to rely on grainy cellphone videos captured by the suspect’s drunken third cousin on his mama’s daddy’s sister’s side of the family.
Officer’s wear the Bluetooth-like devices for the duration of their shifts, and then place it in a docking station where the video is downloaded and stored on a remote server. The video is tamper-proof; however, officers are in control of the on-off switch, which could lead to credibility problems in court. I guess the next step will be for supervisors to monitor live feeds, dictating the officer’s every move. Sounds like Robocop wasn’t so far-fetched after all.
San Jose, Ca. officers have been using the $5,700 devices as part of a free trial.
You’ll never guess who manufactures the head cams…TASER International, Inc.
SHENANDOAH, Pa.
Four Pennsylvania police officers, including the police chief, have resigned after their arrests on federal charges of extortion, lying to the FBI, and for covering up the beating death of a Hispanic youth by two white teens. The resignations of the four officers left the three remaining police officers in the seven man department to safeguard the town. The state police are now assisting with those duties.
There are some definite pluses to the head-cam, but talk about no privacy. Would they be expected to have it turned on all shift or only when they’re questioning someone? I could see where it would be an advantage to have whatever they witnessed on tape and there might not be time to switch it on. Of course, I’m guessing it would be recording sounds. So, no burping or singing or talking to yourself (that would be me).
D – I’ve kept it vague in the draft – merely referred to it a “recorder”. It’s not critical that it be video; I just thought it might be cool for my ‘big city’ detective to show off his fancy new toy for my ‘small town’ cop. And what a toy to show off.
Heck, with publication being as slow as it is, all this might be routine by the time this book ever has a chance to see a bookshelf.
Terry – Do you need just an audio recording?
I used to carry a pocket tape recorder. Worked great.
Always sad to read about things like Sheriff Raymond Martin.
I think the head cams are cool as well. It would seem there is a date and time feed in a corner that would allow the viewer to see when the off button was hit. You would think if it streams black screen no sound or video, then it allows the you to see how long the camera is off which the officer would have to account for ?
Speaking of gossip, I read an article last night where a socialite passed away and the girlfriend started to twitter about it before it seemed anyone knew. All tackiness aside, is that legal ?
Those head-cams look cool. And it just so happens I need to record my cops interrogating a suspect, and they’re nowhere near the station.