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Daily Archives: December 7, 2014

Implementing a Body-Worn Camera Program: Recommendations and Lessons Learned

Report by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) with support from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing (COPS Office), October 2014.

“The recent emergence of body-worn cameras has already had an impact on policing, and this impact will only increase as more agencies adopt this technology. The decision to implement body-worn cameras should not be entered into lightly. Once an agency goes down the road of deploying body-worn cameras—and once the public comes to expect the availability of video records—it will become increasingly difficult to have second thoughts or to scale back a body-worn camera program. A police department that deploys body-worn cameras is making a statement that it believes the actions of its officers are a matter of public record. By facing the challenges and expense of purchasing and implementing a body-worn camera system, developing policies, and training its officers in how to use the cameras, a department creates a reasonable expectation that members of the public and the news media will want to review the actions of officers. And with certain limited exceptions that this publication will discuss, body-worn camera video footage should be made available to the public upon request—not only because the videos are public records but also because doing so enables police departments to demonstrate transparency and openness in their interactions
with members of the community. Body-worn cameras can help improve the high-quality public service expected of police officers and promote the perceived legitimacy and sense of procedural justice that communities have about their police departments. Furthermore, departments that are already deploying body-worn cameras tell us that the presence of cameras often improves the performance of officers as well as the conduct of the community members who are recorded. This is an important advance in policing. And when officers or members of the public break the law or behave badly, body-worn cameras can create a public record that allows the entire community to see what really happened. At the same time, the fact that both the public and the police increasingly feel the need to videotape every interaction can be seen both as a reflection of the times and as an unfortunate commentary on the state of police-community relationships in some jurisdictions. As a profession, policing has come too far in developing and strengthening relationships with its communities to allow encounters with the public to become officious and legalistic. Body-worn cameras can increase accountability, but police agencies also must find a way to preserve the informal and unique relationships between police officers and community members. This publication, which documents extensive research and analysis by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), with support from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office), will demonstrate why police departments should not deploy bodyworn cameras carelessly. Moreover, departments must anticipate a number of difficult questions—questions with no easy answers because they involve a careful balancing of competing legitimate interests, such as the public’s interest in seeing body-worn camera footage versus the interests ofcrime victims who would prefer not to have their images disseminated to the world.”

Grant Thornton Global Private Equity Report

Creating growth: the challenge of buying well in today’s market: “Private equity has always focused on creating value and helping promote growth in portfolio companies. Since the industry began, private equity firms have tried many ways to meet this ultimate objective – and with varying success. Now, post the global financial crisis, the question being asked more than ever is: how… Continue Reading

Data Brokers and Your Privacy

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Posted September 2014, Revised September 2014: “Technological advances allow us to do many useful things and to simplify our daily tasks.  The flip-side of these advances in technology is the unprecedented ability to collect, store, manipulate, and disseminate virtually unlimited amounts of data about people.  Numerous companies known as data brokers have entered this… Continue Reading

Investigative Report Claims NSA Hacking of Cellphone Networks Is Global

Ryan Gallagher – The Intercept: “The AURORAGOLD operation is carried out by specialist NSA surveillance units whose existence has not been publicly disclosed: the Wireless Portfolio Management Office, which defines and carries out the NSA’s strategy for exploiting wireless communications, and the Target Technology Trends Center, which monitors the development of new communication technology to ensure… Continue Reading

U.S. oil reserves continue rising, surpass 36 billion barrels for first time since 1975

“U.S. crude oil and lease condensate proved reserves rose for the fifth consecutive year in 2013, increasing by 9% from the 2012 level to 36.5 billion barrels, according to the U.S. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Proved Reserves, 2013 report released yesterday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). U.S. crude oil and lease condensate proved… Continue Reading

Welfare, Work, and Poverty Status of Female-Headed Families with Children: 1987-2013

CRS – Welfare, Work, and Poverty Status of Female-Headed Families with Children: 1987-2013,Thomas Gabe, Specialist in Social Policy, November 21, 2014. “Eighteen years have passed since repeal of what was the nation’s major cash welfare program assisting low-income families with children, the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, and its replacement with a block grant of… Continue Reading