Clinton is going to propose body cameras for every officer nationally at her speech today at Columbia.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) April 29, 2015Good idea.
I am wondering about a hypothetical, though. Let's say that something happens, and the video of a certain timevspan is subpoenaed. Further, that the officer had decided to use a personal camera, and when told to turn over all recordings, scrubbed much of them as being personal and unrelated.
How should we handle that?
Reform this now. https://t.co/Koo7hIdQ24
— Gerry Daly (@GerryDales) April 10, 2015There are many reasons to oppose the use of police to generate revenue. It hits the poor the hardest. It leads to abuse. It leads to a disdain for law enforcement. It leads to abuse.
Hopefully, some Republican Presidential candidates will take this up as an issue. Rand Paul seems a natural, but I could see others joining in as well.
I would recommend a simple proposal, such as making states report to the federal government all revenues raised from traffic violations, and using that amount as an offset to the amount given to the state for highway maintenance and similar construction projects. Give the individual states an incentive for discouraging the practice within their own borders, perhaps by doing something similar to their municipalities.
Simple, clean. Have the incentives be towards ticketing the minimum amount required to ensure public safety, which is how things really should be.