NEWARK,USA,18 April 2010 -- Police Director Garry McCarthy plans to start outfitting Newark’s patrol cars with onboard cameras, becoming the first of the state’s large cities to put a monitoring device on the road with officers.Newark will spend $400,000 to purchase and install onboard cameras in 50 of the department’s 400 cruisers, McCarthy said. The cameras could be installed as early as June or July.McCarthy said the department has been researching the cameras for roughly two years but did not purchase them earlier because funds weren’t available.
"I want it for our own cops’ protection. We’ve always wanted them," McCarthy said.
The cameras will be installed within the dashboard, rather than the mounted style used by many law enforcement agencies. McCarthy said the mounted cameras pose an injury risk to officers in the event of a motor-vehicle accident.The decision was applauded by activists and politicians who say a string of high-profile misconduct complaints levied against the police department this year shows the need for an objective eye to be trained on the officers.
"We don’t all know the facts, but a camera helps to add those facts and clarify gray areas," said Councilman Ronald Rice Jr., referring to some of the recent incidents.
"We’re all on our best behavior when we are being watched."
In one incident, two Newark police offices are accused of exiting their patrol car and stopping Diana Taylor as she walked on a city street in 2009. They asked her for identification. When Taylor, a transgender woman, told them her birth name is Christopher Moore, the officer replied to another officer, "I owe you $10. It is a man," according to a lawsuit Taylor filed against the department for harassment.
Police are investigating the accusation and the president of the city’s police officers’ union has refuted Taylor’s claim, but without a recording of the incident it could boil down to a case of "he said/she said," officials said.
The cameras became a talking point among politicians and activists in January after McCarthy unveiled 40 new patrol cruisers outfitted with mobile computers but no cameras.
Deborah Jacobs, director of the state American Civil Liberties Union and frequent critic of the department, said at the time, "I am surprised by the omission of dashboard cameras in the purchase order for new cruisers. Accountability measures for (the department) are on the top of my mind, and I would expect them to be on the top of the director’s as well."
According to McCarthy, the department didn’t spend any money on the mobile computers. PSEG donated the laptops to the department in 2008. The only cost was installation into the car and hard drives for the devices.
Officials at three of the state’s largest police departments — Jersey City, Trenton and Camden — said financial restrictions have slowed the process of buying cameras.For many other departments, the cameras are a staple, according to Robert Coulton, president of the New Jersey police chief’s association.
"It’s rare for me to know a police department that doesn’t have some kind of recording system in their cars," said Coulton, who is also chief of the Ewing Police Department. "I would say the majority of police departments in the state have in-car video systems."
Councilman Rice acknowledged the Newark Police Department is facing tough economic times, but said he is still considering teaming up with Councilman Carlos Gonzalez to draft legislation that would mandate the department to outfit its cruisers with dashboard cameras.
"The director is putting real dollars in and that shows a commitment to me. I would like a timetable, but this a good beginning. I have to help him find the dollars to do this," said Rice, who serves on the council’s public safety committee. "By purchasing the cameras, I think the director sets a precedent to mandate it by law."
While in favor of installing the cameras, McCarthy doesn’t favor creating a mandate."Why would they try to mandate something without asking us how we felt about it? We want the cameras. Somebody can run forward and say they are forcing the police to do something but guess what? We want to do it. (LINK ASAL)
Dan kerajaan kita membelanjakan RM77 juta untuk mendapatkan khidmat nasihat bagaimana nak mengekang pengaruh parti pembangkang. Masalah dalam negara tolak ke tepi dahulu,masalah politik mesti kasi setel dulu.
3 ulasan:
Waktu aku umur 14 tahun aku pun pernah curi2 bawak kereta mak aku waktu malam. Pastu bertembung ngan roadblock polis. Waktu tu memang cuak habis dan macam arwah adik tu aku pun larikan diri tapi akhirnya kena tahan gak. Nasib baik aku tak kena tembak macam dia. Yelah budak tu salah tapi yang paling aku tak boleh terima kenapa polis mesti menembak mati budak tu. Terang-terang kt sini polis dah melanggar rules of engangement. Apapun aku sangat2 setuju kamera ngan black box mesti dipasang pada kenderaan polis. Banyak maklumat dan bukti boleh dapat. Aku rasa ahli2 parlimen mesti bangkitkan perkara ni di parlimen.
aku takut benda ni hot sekarang aje. lama-lama terus senyap. senyap tanpa penyelesaian yang telus. lepas tu bila ada lagi masalah, baru timbul lagi.
kita tak tahu pihak mana yang benar kecuali mereka yang ada di tempat&pada waktu kejadian. ada satu rancangan tv dulu (tak tahu sekarang ada lagi tak?) pasal polis dok kejar orang (atau yang sewaktu dengannya). kamera yang ada kat dalam kete polis tu la yang membuktikan segalanya. Bukti kukuh tu~ bab ni tak mau pulak ikut. aish!
yeah.. yang penting perut kenyang..
suka sangat diorang ni makan duit rakyat.
kita ni dah kira lepas dunia ke 3,well, aku rasa dengan rate and apa yg ada skang, patutnya 10 tahun lepas kita dah boleh berada dalam kemudahan yang jauh lebih baik dari skang. tapi, tu la.
Fanatik sangat dengan politik, sebab politik tu tuhan, bagi diorang makan, bahagia
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