My Solution To Police Shenanigans:

This is an idea I've played around with jokingly (I think I brainstormed it a bit on ATS, actually) a few months ago but, since then, incidents involving jack-up roidrage cops have risen dramatically. I think it's time to actually have a third-party solution and I have one idea that could work.

Think webstreaming. Think mandatory. Think fans. Think subscriptions. Ok... with just those things rolling around in your head, I bet you can already see where this is going. It may seem far-fetched but this could totally work and would be an incredibly effective and lucrative tool to both subsidize police funding and to enhance relations between law enforcement and the citizens they are supposed to be serving.


It would work like this:

- Every cop would have a body cam, dash cam, and two or three cab cams that are positioned inside the cruiser.

- These would be mandatory but not viewable on the public site by default but will always be controlled and archived by the third-party for legal purposes. There will NEVER be an option to turn them off and tampering with them will lead to suspension or termination.

- Should an officer opt-in, they can sign a contract to allow their shifts to be on the public site. This entitles them to several benefits discussed below. If they opt-out, their benefits start over if they ever return to the program. This prevents officers cherry-picking their "public" shifts depending on their mood.

- Each participating officer will have a fan site and donation options as well as merchandise that can be purchased. They will have a subscriber base that is able to give the officer live feedback and encouragement that can be seen during their off-time or down-time.

- There will be "promotion" and "rank" models based on positive feedback from the subscribers and the higher the rank, the bigger the benefits they gain from the site.

- There can even be a syndicated model that can be spotlighted on the nightly news which will garner even more activity from the public.

- Eventually, this will lead to a friendlier atmosphere with law enforcement and will make it nearly impossible for any officer to get away with murder or to get wrongfully accused of it. Corruption will drop to nearly zero and the police will be viewed with respect and admiration and, indeed, some of them will reach celebrity status. Imagine pulled-over suspects requesting autographs from the cop!

Many will hate this idea because it resembles something remotely new and innovative but what would truly be the downside for this? It would rake in tons of revenue and improve soooo many problems we have with law enforcement. Couldn't you see something like this happening in the near future? It would be so huge!

I can see it now...

People will have favorite cops, and watch body cam footage in place of reality TV.

I could actually see something like this working. People still watch American Idol after all these years.

Kind of hard to give incentives to someone who can literally get away with murder already.

a reply to: Cuervo

Good cops would become sort of celebritys. I rather that than see people get paid for playing games or looking pretty...
i think its good idea. im in.

Seems like a solid plan..

Now what's your plan for criminal shenanigans?

a reply to: Cuervo

look how big the show cops is. kick starter for a police departement try it

One problem, tptb want thugs, not policemen.

originally posted by: JHumm
Kind of hard to give incentives to someone who can literally get away with murder already.

The ego is a powerful tool. At present, a cops motivation is less "service" and more "outlet" and it will continue down that route as things get worse between "them and us".

What better way to appeal to an ego (especially the kind of ego that is attracted authority positions) than to offer them fans, praise, and bonus models... for doing something decent?

I will never excuse abusive behavior from a cop but that doesn't mean I think they can't be fixed. They can.

Great idea and I'm glad somebody is thinking about this.

It sounds like fanaticism would eventually get in the way of clear unbiased judgement though.

originally posted by: opethPA
Seems like a solid plan..

Now what's your plan for criminal shenanigans?

Police.


ps edit - Keep in mind, this will work both ways. This would help protect the police from being wrongfully accused, as well. And... imagine a cop with a lot of subscribers notice that the suspect they just released had a tattoo of somebody on the FBI most wanted list. A member can post to the fan page, the cop will see it later and then go back after the suspect. Or better yet, dispatch sees it and radios it in while the cop is still there. It would be like every popular cop having several eyes and ears.

Well, I know that the show "Alaska State Troopers" is a huge hit. Those guys get tons of fan mail.

This idea has merit...it might need some tweaking along the way, but I think there's something to this. I think it also embeds people more in their community while they watch the goings-ons.

a reply to: Cuervo

I LOVE this idea! S & F for you!
I would love to see what could actually be built out of this. I think it would eventually create a true "People for the People" united police force that all could stand behind.
(As long as the right people watch. You have to be careful. You want a true majority of all citizens having a say.)

originally posted by: Prisoner60863
a reply to: Cuervo

Good cops would become sort of celebritys. I rather that than see people get paid for playing games or looking pretty...
i think its good idea. im in.

I think the attractive cops would become celebrities.

It wouldn't matter what evidence you had if prosecutors are reluctant to prosecute. I still believe that any potential solution would require independent special prosecutors motivated to go after cops that break the law. Not just for things like assault, murder, or attempted murder, but also for "lesser" offenses like kidnapping, perjury, withholding evidence, filing false reports, planting evidence, and the like.

I'm sure there would be enough jailhouse lawyers motivated to see cops in jail to do the job.

What about privacy issues?

originally posted by: Cuervo

originally posted by: JHumm
Kind of hard to give incentives to someone who can literally get away with murder already.

The ego is a powerful tool. At present, a cops motivation is less "service" and more "outlet" and it will continue down that route as things get worse between "them and us".

What better way to appeal to an ego (especially the kind of ego that is attracted authority positions) than to offer them fans, praise, and bonus models... for doing something decent?

I will never excuse abusive behavior from a cop but that doesn't mean I think they can't be fixed. They can.

I understand that thought. But a lot of the problem with police now is that they expect everyone to be afraid of them and obey them and they expect a bonus for doing their job and don't get what they think they should who is going to pay the price for that.
Police didn't use to sign up for recognition and fans, but to help people and do the right thing, to be held to a higher standard. And people used to like cops until they become unaccountable and out of control.

originally posted by: Domo1
What about privacy issues?

That's why it's opt-in in order to be streamed on the public site. As far as suspects go, we already have the technology to blur out faces on live tv. There would have to be some heavy considerations with a project like this but none of them are deal-breakers.

originally posted by: JHumm

originally posted by: Cuervo

originally posted by: JHumm
Kind of hard to give incentives to someone who can literally get away with murder already.

The ego is a powerful tool. At present, a cops motivation is less "service" and more "outlet" and it will continue down that route as things get worse between "them and us".

What better way to appeal to an ego (especially the kind of ego that is attracted authority positions) than to offer them fans, praise, and bonus models... for doing something decent?

I will never excuse abusive behavior from a cop but that doesn't mean I think they can't be fixed. They can.

I understand that thought. But a lot of the problem with police now is that they expect everyone to be afraid of them and obey them and they expect a bonus for doing their job and don't get what they think they should who is going to pay the price for that.
Police didn't use to sign up for recognition and fans, but to help people and do the right thing, to be held to a higher standard. And people used to like cops until they become unaccountable and out of control.

That's exactly what this would address. It not only holds them to a higher standard but also rewards them for it. I feel bad for the good cops out there. It's a rather thankless job not to mention high stress. The ones that handle it in stride and with dignity should be recognized for it. Those that can only handle it through abuse and aggression won't last.

Then there are the good cops who also like their relative privacy. They can simply carry on with their career as usual, knowing their suspects are being recorded for the cop's protection.

As the government like to tell us all the time "If they aren't doing anything wrong, they have nothing to worry about".

a reply to: Cuervo

Oh OK, I thought you were talking live broadcasts or something which didn't seem all that feasible.

As long as names and addresses and faces can be obscured seems like a good idea. Only problem is that it would take a ton of revenue to have even 1% of the cops in the country uploading video, have people edit out names and whatnot.

originally posted by: Domo1
a reply to: Cuervo

Oh OK, I thought you were talking live broadcasts or something which didn't seem all that feasible.

As long as names and addresses and faces can be obscured seems like a good idea. Only problem is that it would take a ton of revenue to have even 1% of the cops in the country uploading video, have people edit out names and whatnot.

I am talking about live streaming. Even your Xbox and PS3 has live augmented reality facial recognition so I'm confident that censoring can be done live. Regardless, filming in public doesn't require you to censor out people in most cases. In most cases, you only need to blur out faces when a reasonable expectation of privacy is present and that's a very subjective thing.

Besides, that's what lawyers are for, right?

a reply to: Cuervo

There is just one problem I see with this idea.
What movies draw the most box office? Action, blood and guts, warfare, murder and ma-ham. Beat down no holds bared action, so forth and so on.

Which computer games draw the most revenue? War, murder and ma-ham, blood and guts action.

Now, can you see an officer approaching someone, everyone and saying sir, I hate to be the one to tell you that you just murdered a 5 year old child and I hate it but would you please put your hands behind your back so I can arrest you?

Now, do you see where I am going with this. The viewing public wants blood, murder and ma-ham. They don't want to see a nice cop, they want blood and guts!