San Diego Police Body Cam Stats: Complaints Fall 40.5%, Use Of 'Personal Body' Force Down 46.5%

Chris | InformationLiberation
Mar. 24, 2015

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According to preliminary statistics, police in San Diego appear to be behaving better since expanding their use of police body cams.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

The use of body cameras by San Diego police has led to fewer complaints by residents and less use of force by officers, according to a city report released Wednesday.

Complaints have fallen 40.5% and use of "personal body" force by officers has been reduced by 46.5% and use of pepper spray by 30.5%, according to the report developed by the Police Department for the City Council's Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee.

By year's end, the department plans to have nearly 1,000 officers equipped with the small cameras, including patrol officers, gang-unit officers and motorcycle officers. Currently, 600 officers have the cameras.

The report to the council is based on preliminary statistics gathered for 2014 and January 2015.

"Body-worn camera technology is a win-win for both the officer and the community," Deputy Chief David Ramirez said in the report, set to be discussed at Wednesday's meeting.

People act differently when they know they're being filmed. That said, police body cameras are not a panacea. It's not clear body cam use in itself is the cause of the reduction in police violence, the data is sparse. The Albuquerque police have had body cams since 2010 and they are as violent as ever.

Regardless, the lack of accountability which police enjoy creates perverse incentives for them to behave badly. When a citizen violates someone's rights, they face personal consequences, when police do it, they're generally shielded from personal liability and taxpayers end up footing the bill for their malfeasance.

Another problem with police body cams is they're one more method for the government to spy on it's citizens, cops should be the ones on film, not the tax-slave public they rule over.