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NSA Surveillance Turn About – Camera’s on Police Drop Abuse Complaints by 88% in 12 month Study

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NSA Surveillance Turn About – Camera’s on Police Drop Abuse Complaints by 88% in 12 month Study

By now, most of us are aware that the NSA is watching us. This gives, those who claim Federal authority over us high access access to our private lives irregardless of our 4th amendment right of privacy.

Sunglass camera on left.
Photo by Joshua Lott
for The New York Times

However, it also begs another question, just who is watching them?

Well, now that appears like it might be a good idea as demonstrated by a study of camera’s placed on police in Rialto, California.

The result over 12 months of the study which was placed randomly on half of the police in Rialto are a bit of a stunner:

THE Rialto study began in February 2012 and will run until this July. The results from the first 12 months are striking. Even with only half of the 54 uniformed patrol officers wearing cameras at any given time, the department over all had an 88 percent decline in the number of complaints filed against officers, compared with the 12 months before the study, to 3 from 24.

Rialto’s police officers also used force nearly 60 percent less often — in 25 instances, compared with 61. When force was used, it was twice as likely to have been applied by the officers who weren’t wearing cameras during that shift, the study found. And, lest skeptics think that the officers with cameras are selective about which encounters they record, Mr. Farrar noted that those officers who apply force while wearing a camera have always captured the incident on video.

What is one to conclude with results like that? Perhaps that turn about is not only fair play but it works in favor of the preservation of civil liberties and citizen safety.

Sounds like this is one study that should be expanded on a nation wide basis.

Can We Expand This to Politicians?

I wouldn’t even ask for camera’s (which may just produce some X-rated film clips after all is said and done). After all, they can listen in on our phone calls why can’t we listen in on theirs. I mean, they are after all supposed to be public servants aren’t they? Can’t we see if we are getting our money’s worth for their time as our representatives?

Just think of the implications. Our federal spending would probably drop by more than half since those back room vote grabbing and funding deals would be a little harder to pull off.

We might even see the return of some of the liberties in our Bill of Rights that they take an oath of office to uphold, protect and defend as they would be forced to demonstrate their loyalty to their constituents more openly on a daily basis.

I sure would like to get the franchise on the radio channel that would broadcast the calls. I’d probably become a multi-millionaire nearly overnight because my guess is that a station like this would vault to the top of the ratings in each area pretty quickly.

Naaaah…instead for our protection the NSA can listen in to any of our phone calls and street camera’s record our daily movements and we too often get this kind of abuse from police:

[vsw id=”SiIuIb_IfiM” source=”youtube” width=”425″ height=”344″ autoplay=”no”]

For more on the issue: