As the world faces increasing global and political challenges, we may find ourselves in unexpected and complex situations. Those who survive will quickly come to acknowledge the importance of personal protection. This could mean deterring would be threats, or employing force in order to preserve life and safety. However, the question remains, how do we defend our actions after the fact? The answer lies in the constant, vigilant witness of a personal body camera.
You may think, “body cameras are for cops, I’m not a cop.” You’re not alone. Many people typically associate the use of body cameras with law enforcement or other official uses, but they are powerful tools for you and me as well. In addition to serving as a potential deterrent against bad behavior, a body camera becomes an indispensable means of documenting an event or interaction. I call the record button on a body camera the “act right” button because of the influence it has on the behavior of others. I know you’ve seen it, people act differently when they know they’re being recorded. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. However, they typically tend to “act right,” unless you’re lucky enough to cross paths with one of the class acts who decides to “act out” instead.
It’s no secret that government entities have long recognized the utility of body cameras, promoting them as public safeguards. However, any footage of you will more than likely to be leveraged in prosecutorial efforts, not to prove your innocence. This is why attempting to obtain body camera footage following an incident is such a bureaucratic nightmare, often taking months or even years. But consider this, for less than $200, you can bypass these delays by owning your own body camera. A body camera in your possession will serve as a potent tool in deterring bad behavior by everyday people, as well as abuses of power by authorities. Your timestamped recording is an irrefutable and reliable account of events and interactions. Most importantly, the information captured on your body camera is immediately available to you, thus eliminating the opportunity for bad actors to withhold, mysteriously “lose” footage, or manipulate crucial evidence that could have assisted you. Even if someone gets a hold of your body camera, it’s password protected, ensuring that your footage remains secure and inaccessible to anyone who may attempt to view or delete it.
All over social media you can find videos of incidents captured by bystanders holding cell phones while the subjects of the video are fully engaged in whatever is going on. Now what if one of the subjects in the video happened to be you? Chances are, nobody’s coming to help you, they’re too busy filming. If you try to document the encounter yourself, you’ll likely have a hard time defending yourself with a phone in your hand. As forward thinkers, we know we need the ability to record and act at the same time. This is where the hands-free nature of body cameras shines, allowing users to capture footage without being distracted by holding a camera or a phone. Additionally, clipping the body camera to your clothing or a backpack instead of conspicuously holding a recording device in your hands makes it less obvious to the subject, or anyone watching, that you are filming. This can be advantageous in sensitive or potentially confrontational situations. Two more features that make a body camera a far superior to your cell phone is the fact that the body camera is equipped with IR lighting and night vision capabilities, enabling you to record clear footage even in low-light or dark environments. Lastly, when the crap hits the fan, it tends to happen quickly. The body camera audio and video recording can be initiated quickly with the press of just one button. There’s no fumbling around to unlock your phone, or swiping to activate the camera.
I’ve carried a body camera with me for quite a few years now, but I was inspired to write this blog after my sister, a public school teacher, and her daughter came to visit from out of state. On her way back home, she passed through Massachusetts. While on the highway, a Massachusetts State Trooper ran the plates to my sister’s recently purchased SUV, and it erroneously came back as stolen. My sister was completely unaware of this as the vehicle was purchased only a month or so prior from a Jeep dealership. The Trooper, instead of initiating a vehicle stop, trailed my sister for nearly a mile. The Trooper even drove alongside her where she could observe the driver and occupants. At no time did the Trooper activate her lights and sirens to initiate a stop. Unbeknownst to my sister, the Trooper had called for backup as she trailed her. Two more cruisers appeared and still no stop was initiated. Instead, the three troopers coordinated a box-in maneuver which involved one of the police vehicles getting ahead of my sister and initiating a hasty blocking position forcing her to stop while the other two took up side, and rear blocking positions forcing her into the shoulder of the road. My sister stopped, and the female Trooper immediately exited her vehicle and attempted to open the locked driver’s door of my sister’s vehicle. My sister unlocked the door and was immediately ordered out of the vehicle. She kept it cool and asked why she was being stopped and ordered out of the vehicle. She also called me on her phone. There was so much wrong with how this situation was handled and things could have gone very bad. Massachusetts State Troopers are equipped with body cameras and typically if they stop you, upon approaching your vehicle they will announce their name, department, and that the interaction is being recorded. In this case, the female Trooper took no such action. My sister did an excellent job of de-escalating the situation by remaining in her vehicle, calmly asking questions, and by getting a second set of ears involved by calling me on the vehicle’s Bluetooth system. The female Trooper immediately toned down her attitude when she became aware someone else was listening in. The other two Troopers involved in setting up the hasty blocking position discretely left the scene, a convenient way to limit what can go in their reports. The situation was ultimately resolved, and it was uncovered that my sister’s vehicle was listed as stolen due to the error of an officer at another department who somehow entered my sister’s VIN while entering a stolen vehicle report for another individual who was the victim of a vehicle theft and happened to own the same make and model as my sister. It was a bureaucratic nightmare for my sister to get to the bottom of this. She’ll never get body camera footage of the incident and if she had been unable to call me, no one would ever know she had been ambushed on the side of the road somewhere. God forbid, if one of the Troopers decided to discharge their weapon, or go hands on, rest assured reports would reflect that whatever happened was justified. The major takeaway here is that whether you are alone, or with others, you need a reliable witness in confrontational and potentially dangerous situations. A body camera fills that role. Badge or no badge, it makes no difference because we live in a world spiraling out of control. Even with the camera, you’re not completely out of the woods, but it helps. However, this situation demonstrates the effectiveness of something as simple as merely and open phone line to improve the behavior of certain individuals. Do yourself a favor and get your own body camera. You’ll be investing in a buffer between you and a would be perpetrator doing something foolish. That moment of hesitation when the other person realizes that their next action is going to be on film will buy you just enough time for cooler heads to prevail. The widespread use of body cameras by people like you and me can contribute to fostering a more accountable and just society for everyone.