I’m curious about the “highly controllable evidence” part. Perhaps this conversation isn’t attainable without getting into vast generalizations, however, in my experience officers generally activate their cameras when they respond to a crime and don’t turn them off until they are no longer investigating the crime. This is generally when the defendant has already been interviewed and is custody in a police vehicle. If there are subsequent interviews, they turn back on their cameras.
I know my experience is not universal, but body cameras seem to be a great way to maintain transparency in investigations since defendants and prosecutors will both have video/audio of the investigation.
In another comment I posted a link to another study that shows police does not provide footage from most of police shootings. Yes, most of the time the camera is recording but most of the time only police can see the footage. That’s what they mean by "highly controllable evidence”. When it exonerates the officer they give to the TV stations in a matter of hours. When it doesn’t they hide it and you have to fight them in courts for years to see it.
I’m curious about the “highly controllable evidence” part. Perhaps this conversation isn’t attainable without getting into vast generalizations, however, in my experience officers generally activate their cameras when they respond to a crime and don’t turn them off until they are no longer investigating the crime. This is generally when the defendant has already been interviewed and is custody in a police vehicle. If there are subsequent interviews, they turn back on their cameras.
I know my experience is not universal, but body cameras seem to be a great way to maintain transparency in investigations since defendants and prosecutors will both have video/audio of the investigation.
In another comment I posted a link to another study that shows police does not provide footage from most of police shootings. Yes, most of the time the camera is recording but most of the time only police can see the footage. That’s what they mean by "highly controllable evidence”. When it exonerates the officer they give to the TV stations in a matter of hours. When it doesn’t they hide it and you have to fight them in courts for years to see it.