The local NAACP last week asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate an African-American woman’s complaint that she was kicked, beaten and stunned with a Taser by a Wichita police officer after being pulled over for a burned-out taillight.
It’s unclear whether the woman, who sported a bruised face, is telling the truth — she has a record of previous arrests and claims of excessive force.
But this seems a textbook example of the kind of “he said, she said” case that a video camera in the police officer’s car could help resolve — or perhaps prevent in the first place by its mere presence.
It’s puzzling why Wichita police have been resistant to a tool that could help confirm their professionalism and enhance public trust.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
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46 Comments
There’s no reason, no valid reason, anyway, for the police to resist the cameras.
Departments all over the country are using them.
Hard to say if this woman was or wasn’t abused, but why take a chance?
The public needs to force the use of the cameras.
The Wichita Police often show up on the TV shows “Cops” so apparently they are not too resistive of cameras!
The police are NOT resistant to cameras. The chief and others have repeatedly said they would welcome them….it is a matter of funding.
Anyone happen to have a spare few million laying around to pay for them? Not just the purchase/installation, but the ongoing maintenance costs makes these things quite expensive.
Randy..you have your facts completely wrong here. Maybe the Eagle could cough up the funds to pay for it? Or Sunflower could have a bake sale? Or we could just voluntarily have our taxes raised?
No resistance at all from the WPD, check the record…they have stated over and over they would like them. But, since the City doesn’t own a money printing press, it is a financial matter.
Oversight of armed public officials is a good thing. This is an expense even a Libertarian would get behind.
I thought the WPD was at least installing a few cameras on some of their vehicles. They do need to extend them to all of them.
Actually! Aren’t they getting new cruisers? They could have made a deal to install cameras on those for little cost.
Subdural marks from the taser would have been easy to find if they existed. I find it implausible that a police officer would treat a woman that way for a simple traffic stop.
I’ve seen the way people act when they get pulled over. It’s usually attitude first and apology later when they finally admit to their traffic offense.
I think there would be less of this if there were a law that required 6 months minimum jail time for people making false statements accusing police officers of this.
The money is there for video cameras, just takes the will of the council to find it — if I remember correctly it would cost about 3k – 5k per vehicle
Also, video / photo cameras are being used in several cities (Chicago comes to mind) to catch speeders, red light runners as well as in high crime areas to monitor them — innovative too it seems — police can stand off a ways in their patrol cars to monitor and control the cameras to zoom and sweep them — then are not far off and don’t have to wait for a 911 dispatch ….
Last election Brewer said public safety was a top priority — no one asked either candidate for specifics as to how they would improve it — cameras would be a good start — it’s up to you Wicitans and we in the rest of the county to put the heat on em to do it —- how about a HUGE police presence at a council meeting — same applies to the county police …
here in Mulvane we can put a camera on the water tower to catch all them evil cow tippers (TIC) …
but I will check to see if our police have em in their cars
Isn’t this the same lady who has filed three other complaints, all dismissed. Sounds like a crier of wolf.
She was pulled over for a traffic violation–right in front of her parent’s home? Not likely. (She “evaded and eluded” and didn’t stop until she was there, more likely.) She’s had three previous “incidents” with similar complaints of excessive force? (Yeah, right. Sounds like someone likes to argue and resist.) She was “Tased” three times but the Taser cartridge was never actually fired?
Some Taser models can be used like stun guns, but it seems unlikely. And firing one would leave marks on the person Tased, and then the Taser would have to be reloaded. And they “deploy” a bunch of serial # tagged “confetti” when fired, as incident markers.
Dash cams run over $5000 each, and only record directly in front of the car. “All around” cams are much more expensive. A basic system for WPD would run over $1.5 million, not including ongoing maintenance costs. Money is DEFINITELY an issue. The city isn’t sure yet where the money for the latest round of police raises is coming from.
the “High Crime Area” cams I wrote about are on light poles etc with some anti theft devices …. and are some what portable (can be moved to other areas as needed)
I wonder what we might learn if there had been a camera in the car that struck and killed a pedestrian the other night.
I wonder what we might learn if there had been a camera in the car that struck and killed a pedestrian the other night.
Posted by: Ben | April 27, 2007 at 09:25 AM
Probably that people jaywalk on streets at night wearing dark clothing without checking for traffic.
I don’t care if the funding is an issue or not, they need to make it a priority.
The cops should REFUSE to work until that protection for them is in place.I’d say that would be more important than a darn arena.
And it only takes 1 lawsuit.
Probably correct Republican. In particular, that area is not one where I would likely be watching for pedestrians. This is likely one of those cases where the camera would support the cop.
PMom-
…. our state reps were able to find money for the water walk etc (another thread) money is there — it’s gonna take heat to get them to look at their priorities
Refusing to work will open the gates for criminals — perhaps a rotating “Blue FLu” (slowdown) — would bring more positive attention to the issue — an en masse showing of uniformed police at council meetings …. might help too ….
“I don’t care if the funding is an issue or not, they need to make it a priority.”
pmom- Are you now living in Wichita? Perhaps you should mind the business of your own town.
Why Fleets enema, you thinking of pretending you were beat up in order to get a settlement?
the city has airlines to give handouts too, the waterwalk to fund, a hotel to run, and multimillion dollar property to sell for 75% below value it can’t be bothered with public safety. even if it saves to city money because less lawsuits. The money Matt Clay got from the city would have covered the cost of cameras
“Why Fleets enema, you thinking of pretending you were beat up in order to get a settlement?”
Actually, politicalplagarist, that what the subject of this thread is doing.
“The cops should REFUSE to work until that protection for them is in place.”
Now that is just too funny.
A lawyer friend of mine told me a story of a client he had. The guy was charged with drug possession. The dash cam of the police car caught the officer placing the drugs in the car. It took them three years to get the video entered into evidence. The client wasn’t exactly a model citizen.
At any rate, the ‘protection’ goes both ways. Which is why I support cameras.
ProudMan, that’s why I support cameras, too.
Fleet, it goes without saying that a dash camera’s footage would go a long way to proving or disproving the allegations.
It’s a matter of cost, I’m certain. And while video in cars is a good thing, it’s not a panacea. That camera is a one-eyed monster, and DOESN’T show at least as much (and sometimes more) than it shows. I’ve had defense attorneys argue (sucessfully!) that if it cannot be seen on the video, it didn’t happen. But of course 99.9% of the world is not on that videotape; it doesn’t cease to exist.
Cameras in cars are on balance a good thing. Please, however, let’s not go crazy. I’ve read on this blog advocacy of videos in all public places, camera ticketing, etc. Do YOU want to live in such a surveillance society? I know I don’t.
The cameras have their place, certainly, and in police cars are one. But Big Brother need not be everywhere.
…. people who don’t live in the city have a dog in the fight — many many many visit there everyday …………..
…. not all public places —- High Crime areas ……
ken -
I understand your position. But I’d just as soon not let that horse out of the barn; we may never get it back in.
Who defines what is “high crime?” Who will determine the law enforcement priorities?
In short, who watches the watchers?
Indeed, GMC; “who watches the watchers?”. This is why I’m not in favor of surveillance cameras all over the public arena, arguments concerning identifying the “bad guys” notwithstanding.
Regarding the comment concerning dash cameras not “catching everything”; so true. My kudos to the defense attorneys who have successfully argued the point that “if it can’t be seen on the video, it didn’t happen”. :-) This is, however, a bit of a sad comment on the trier of fact in such cases. A question, surely rhetorical: Have we become so acclimated to viewing life through the television that we’re ignoring reality?
gmc — vaughn
Good points — and very valid, I am pretty much reflecting on my experience in Chicago where they have been in use for several years — certainly a lot more crime there, and a lot more gang related crime — I believe the positions were determined by the statistics of types and numbers of crimes and not placed randomly through out the city — a downside is when the prospective perps see the cams (can’t miss em if you look for em) they either go underground or to another area — and eventually the cams follow along …..
I’ll check the CPD web site for more info —-
It’s not like wiretapping that targets an individual or perhaps small group — cameras are almost everywhere all ready — I’ve wondered about the devices at stop lights that I guess monitor traffic flow — are they motion sensors or cameras ?
Aren’t surveillance cameras just revenue generators, most people who get tickets just pay them. If people go to court over a surveillance ticket it gets dismissed because of the lack of a state witness(cops). the same reason if the cop doesn’t show up to court your ticket gets dismissed.
Tom (others)
Found this article about the chicago pd cams, it points out several uses for the cams — I think courts have allowed photos of traffic perps to be used for convictions (In light of several recent major incidents of CPD officers caught on cam, doing bad things – I know the CPD may not seem the MOST credible at the moment — remember they don’t represent the majority of CPD)
Chicago police cameras may scan plates for stolen cars, suspects
By Fran SpielmanThe Chicago Sun-Times
Surveillance cameras on high-crime Chicago street corners may soon be equipped with new software that makes it easier to catch bad guys who drive or park nearby — by scanning the license plates of up to 3,600 parked or moving vehicles an hour.
The Chicago Police Department is exploring the idea of installing Big Brother software on 300 “blue light” cameras — along with the possibility of adding the plate-reading function to video cameras now installed in 30 squad cars to record traffic stops.
Plate-reading software is capable of working with any video source, so long as it records at a speed of three frames per second, according to Jonathon Lewin, commander of the police department’s Information Technology Section.
“We’d be able to take real-time video feeds from the pods, scan those license plates that come into the frame of view and look for the same kinds of things that we’re looking for when we put these out with the vehicles,” Lewin told reporters after the City Council’s Police Committee gave the Police Department the go-ahead to access vehicle registration information compiled by the Illinois secretary of state.
“People would observe the video from a police facility or the 911 center. As a [suspect] vehicle is identified by the observers, they could communicate with the street resources to take the appropriate action. If it was a stolen car or if the registered owner was wanted, that would be enough suspicion to stop the car and investigate further.”
POLICE TEST READERS IN SQUADS
Last month, squad car cameras were installed in the Pullman and Jefferson Park districts — and in marked cars patrolling Lake Shore Drive and the Skyway.
Since Jan. 1, the Chicago Police Department has been experimenting with $26,000 plate readers on four marked squad cars similar to the “squad car of the future” on display at the Chicago Auto Show. Ten similarly equipped Ford Crown Victorias are expected to hit the streets within weeks.
Plate readers positioned on either side of the vehicle are capable of scanning the plates of up to 3,600 parked or moving vehicles an hour and instantly matching them against a database of local, federal and state warrants of “both vehicles and people” as well as against investigative alerts for registered owners and vehicles.
The latest innovation in a Police Department on the cutting edge of technology has already produced tangible results.
‘A LITTLE DISCOMFORT’ WITH PLAN
The plate readers have scanned 2.3 million license plates, resulting in 148 arrests, 15 narcotics seizures and the recovery of 310 vehicles. People were nailed for everything from criminal sexual assault, public indecency and domestic battery to auto theft and armed robbery. In several instances, narcotics and rifles were recovered.
Now, the Police Department wants to build on that success. Ald. Freddrenna Lyle (6th) is all for the idea — within reason.
“I want the people who are committing crime and causing harm to communities apprehended. I just feel a little discomfort about all of this Big Brother technology. I’m not looking for the total police state where, every time I walk out of the house, somebody knows that I’m leaving my house,” Lyle said.
I know for a fact that cameras in police cars help; not hinder a police officers job…..saved my butt a few times
I believe in plate readers and speeding/ red light cameras. It is my belief that law enforcement officers should be allowed to enforce the law. That is what they are paid to do. If they scan your plate and find that you have warrants, a suspended drivers license or your tag is expired, they can and should pull you over. Also, for DUI convicts that are given “work only licenses”, I support proposals here to make them pay for GPS devices on their cars- as well as red license plates- to make sure that they are used only for that. It is your job as a citizen to obey the laws- don’t get warrants, pay your tickets and keep your car tags current like the rest of us have to do. If you don’t like the laws, raise hell and get them changed (like we did with the 55 MPH speed limit).
“She was pulled over for a traffic violation–right in front of her parent’s home? Not likely. (She “evaded and eluded” and didn’t stop until she was there, more likely.)”
The reason that many people do this is that they have offenses that will result in the impounding of the vehicle (suspended license, warrants). If they can make it home before stopping for the police it will save them lots of money in towing and inpound fees.
Sounds like the cameras could pay for themselves pretty quickly both in costs and perps off the street
The cameras are not as expensive as they used to be. I saw on the news where truck drivers are using them to avoid at fault accidents that cars cause to scam the insurance company.
Problem is, cameras cut both ways. WPD has a history of excessive brutality in NE Wichita- I saw it myself when I lived there. Cameras in police cars would only confirm some officers are out of control.
If that is fact, Jed..then cameras will reduce those ‘incidents’, since the cops know there is a camera.
It is a win-win for everyone.. except those of us that have to pay for it…
Hard to believe the money isn’t there…how much did we pay for the new “Keeper of the Plains” display and that outrageous bridge? Seems like our priorities need to be more in order here.I agree with the cameras, the incidents of abuse by police and false accusations by citizens would go down. People behave more when they know they’re being watched.
No, it won’t lower the rate of police abuse; those cops will be fully aware of the field of view and simply take the beatee outside it and continue. A 360degree lens might help, or one that hones in on noise. Even then they’ll no doubt take kids to the cemetary, out of view, and beat the crap out of them like they’ve done for years.
Are you speaking from personal experience, Jed?
Mary,I was never assaulted by officers (being white), but I personally saw it happen on two occasions, and took 5 or 6 kids (about 12 to 15 yrs old) to Wesley ER who had been taken into Maple Grove Cemetery and had the shit kicked out of them by Wichita’s Finest. A neighbor who lived adjacent to the cemetery took quite a few more.
… When was that Jed? Did any one report it to the police / city council? The people at Wesley? You?
I was stopped by a police officer once many years ago who appeared to be out of control. He accused me of driving irradically (which wasn’t true) and was yelling at me and acting irrational….I knew that if I said one one word or argued with him that he’s use it as an excuse to arrest me (or worse). I was diving home after working 2nd shift at the hospital and it was about midnight way out in the country. I just played it cool and he eventually just let me go, but I’m still convinced to this day that he had an alterior motive. It wish I would have got his name, but I was so shocked and scared I wasn’t thinking at the time. I still regret that I didn’t report him, who knows what he was capable of?
That’s pretty scary, Mary. You did the right thing by keeping quiet, but I wish you would have gotten his name or badge number.
ken,I was asked to testify on behalf of one of the victims. The day before it was to go to trial, his lawyer called and told me the city had settled for an undisclosed (but apparently huge) amount.
Having recently been pulled over for speeding, mind you in bumper to bumper traffic, wanting to not stop on broadway and block traffic, I turned off on the nearest side road. Welll, Mr policewhatever didnt care for that and YELLED at me when I see his lights I better pull over. Needless to say having dealt with these jerks allll the time( I get profiled)I stood my ground. Who says that lady didnt get beat? I say she did! I dont care about her past record. In fact maybe the “officer” knew her proir? Happens alllllllllll the time here in hillbillyville. Forget the cameras get these illegals driving without insurance and using someone elses social! THAT is a problem.
Hey there clampitts, jed and yall.The cops should just wear the cameras on thier shirts or hats.Or put them on their guns which they are always pointing at me.Hey, OK so I stole his Dunkin Donut when he was in the john.Geez, whats with cops and donuts.Here in Wichita you are guilty until fined and found guilty. So cameras would screw up the 100% conviction rate for things that never really happened that way.Alot of cops in Wichita are psychotic and bi-polar, PTSD suffering Iraq vets and generallyrascist skinheads.Add coffee and Krispy Kreme and you have an apetite for destruction. Next kids steals a donut and ‘do you feel lucky punk’, out comes the baton, macetazer and flashlight clubs,’well do ya punk’.