In New Orleans, Armand Bennet, 26, was shot in the forehead during a traffic stop by New Orleans police officer Lisa Lewis. However, the police department did not reveal until much later that Lewis turned off her body camera just before shooting Bennett. Bennett survived and has now been charged under prior warrants for his arrest. It also reviewed that Lewis had had a prior run in with Bennet who escaped about a week earlier.
New Orleans Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas called the late disclosures on the shooting simply a “snafu.”
Lewis’ lawyer says that she turned off her camera because she was heading back to the station at the end of her shift and that the shot was fired during a scuffle after the stop. Bennett’s attorney says that there was no scuffle and that Lewis fired a second shot as Bennett ran away.
The two had been in a scuffle a week before and Bennett had gotten away. The NOPD then issued four warrant for Bennet and those warrants were the basis for the stop.
Putting aside the merits of the officers claims, I am still unclear why these body cameras can even be turned off by officers. The point of a body camera should be that it runs from check in to check out. It should not be under the control of the officer to guarantee a record that cannot be challenged by either side. That would avoid the troubling appearance of an officer with a prior run in with a suspect who turns off her camera minutes before shooting the suspect in the head.
Kudos: Michael Blott
Source: Fox8
“Eventually the camera will have failed, the video accidentally got erased or the hard drive crashed. This seems to be the pattern in this growing, lawless government.” John Oliver
So the feed is automatically uploaded and it goes to a cloud — to multiple locations. And if there’s any problem with the feed, dispatch is automatically notified and the backup camera in the vehicle is donned. We have some pretty sophisticated means/tools…
Will it be perfect? Nope. But will it help decrease these types of incidents? In all likelihood, yes.
Eventually the camera will have failed, the video accidentally got erased or the hard drive crashed. This seems to be the pattern in this growing, lawless government.
http://www.policemisconduct.net/
Sounds like pure luck, not sure hers, his, or both, that he wasn’t more severely injured or died. One normally does not shoot at the head unless you are intending to kill the person. (Or else the officer is an unbelievably terrible shot)
“Following Ferguson, a body camera on every officer?”
“The upside of this technology far outweighs any perceived or potential downside”
http://www.policeone.com/police-products/body-cameras/articles/7467585-Following-Ferguson-a-body-camera-on-every-officer/
Squeeky Fromm, Girl Reporter
Sooo, is Bennet dead? Was he unarmed? I agree the turned off camera is fishy, but there seems to be a lot missing from this story.
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Oxa
This all begs the question of why Lewis was shooting to kill (aiming at the head), instead of shooting to stop. What were the warrants out on Bennet for?
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“Bennett has been in the hospital for the past two days, but his injuries are not life-threatening, police said. Upon his release he will booked with five outstanding warrants, including illegal possession of a weapon, resisting an officer charges in Gretna and Orleans, possession of marijuana and criminal damage to property. There may be additional charges stemming from Monday’s incident.” (WVUE).
Simms brings up a good point. Body cams on all the time during shift work? Are these union cops?
Compare this to something called Telemetrics used by UPS to track union package drivers. They don’t like it, but the only option is to leave and get another job.
Telemetrics is also deployed in police cars. So cops can’t make to many coffee and doughnut stops.
As much as I detest our current militarized, trigger happy police forces, I have to disagree that the officers should not be able to turn off the cameras. I don’t see any need to record their private conversation when riding around in a patrol car or at lunch. Should they record their bathroom breaks as well? Who on this board would be willing to be recorded, up close, during their entire day at work? I can also see many scenarios where witnesses will not talk if being recorded.
On the other hand, missing video of an arrest, shooting or other confrontation should be a serious offense that subjects the officer to suspension or firing. How hard is it to train officers to turn on the camera before exiting the police car?
Reblogged this on veritasusa and commented:
These need to be always on uneraseable devices, with a presumption of officers guilt when removed or obscured during any questionable activity – or they are useless.
If there was a presumption of guilt when an officer turned off or erased body cam footage this would cease to be a problem.
However I agree these need to be always on uneraseable devices with severe penalties for removing or obscuring them while on duty (see: presumption of guilt above), and a requirement to immediately return for a new unit if malfunctioning / battery dead.
I will also assume there was conveniently no dash-cam footage?
Im surprised New Orleans wasn;t a Fergusono before Ferguson. And why, when not faced with a gun or deadly weapon, do they still shoot to kill rather then to bring them down?
If a police officer is interviewing a rape victim, should the camera (or at least the video capability) be turned off?
Another example of double standards for police.
American policing is now remarkably similar to Russian policing.
Reblogged this on This Got My Attention and commented:
Good point. Why do police officers even have the ability to turn off their cameras? It makes not sense though I’m pretty certain there’s an excuse somewhere.
This all begs the question of why Lewis was shooting to kill (aiming at the head), instead of shooting to stop. What were the warrants out on Bennet for?
Must be a new police-game, shooting young black men in the head. I wonder what kind of cash and prizes are on the table! Unfortunately for Officer Lewis, this young man survived. No prize for leaving a potential witness alive in this game….
This leaves me a little nauseous.
Reblogged this on sea-swoon.
Sooo, is Bennet dead? Was he unarmed? I agree the turned off camera is fishy, but there seems to be a lot missing from this story.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
“New Orleans Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas called the late disclosures on the shooting simply a “snafu.”
Does that mean if I’m a witness and don’t revel relevant information in court, I can chalk it up to a snafu? Somehow I doubt it.
If a body camera is available but is turned off or the video deleted, then every word the officer says should be suspect.
Hands Up! Don’t Shoot! Turn The Camera On!