[x1798DE]

Not really, because then the police have the control over the cameras. This officer in Albuquerque [1] was wearing a lapel cam in 3 separate serious incidents, after two of which he was accused of using excessive force and during the third incident he shot and killed a 19-year-old girl. During all three incidents his camera "died" before anything serious started happening.

They just learn where the wires are that keeps it running and they pull them out, then reconnect them when they're doing normal stuff. The same thing keeps coming up with dashcams, too. The dashcam footage gets "lost", etc. Maybe one day we'll have technologies and policies that don't allow officers to mess with them, but for the foreseeable future we're the ones who have to be vigilant.

[BigTuna]

Watchguard Video, which provides dashcam tech for police departments, is working on a streaming video solution that sends the live video feed back to HQ. I've seen a demo of the system and it's really neat. Cell, WiFi, satellite and a few other receivers are built into one board and firmware dynamically switches the active connection to the device with the strongest signal, ensuring the highest throughput as well as redundancy. It's all locked away in the trunk where it can't be accessed. It won't stop a determined rogue officer but it's a step in the right direction.

[stephencanon]

Easily addressable — make officers personally liable (as private citizens) for any actions that are not recorded, and cameras will suddenly become a whole lot more reliable.

[x1798DE]

I would love that so much, but public choice theory makes it clear that that is anything but the easy solution. I'm fully and 100% in favor of that idea though.

[zo1]

"I'm fully and 100% in favor of that idea though." Good, then vote on it! I'm sure a drop in the media-influenced pond will make a difference...

Biggest, lie, ever told.

[Zigurd]

Police should be bonded. That way you price-in individual liability ahead of time.

[coder23]

I would be satisfied with a ( future )society where everyone wears a recording system, officials have to or they lose their status, and the data is automatically encrypted and uploaded to state servers. Then if proof is needed, the legal system unlocks the appropriate data.