PHONES: Record police encounters

I might have missed this article (“I’m a cop” by Sunil Dutta) if it was in The Press. Seems to me to be very well written by somebody in the “business” today. The only flaw I see (and I agree with body and car cameras being used by the police) is that the police and prosecutors hardly ever let the public see their videos UNEDITED, but edited to their personal choices, and that may cause the public at large to distrust the police, and our court system(s).

I know that today a lot of people have smartphones, and when dealing with the police, it wouldn’t hurt a thing to start recording the happenstance. That way, should things go awry, you either convict yourself, or you MAY have the ability to refute any allegations. You don’t have to shove the phone/camera into the officer’s face, just prop it up on the steering wheel or dash as examples, and let it run.

Just look at the times recently when just the sounds of gunfire are recorded with no video and this becomes critical evidence.

If a picture is “worth a thousand words,” a video/voice recording of a situation could be worth millions of words and dollars.

The police are there to “Protect & Serve” us as it says on most of their car doors and badges. It would be well worth our while for all of us to think about that credo whether we are the police, or we are a citizen. Respect should be the order of the day, for both parties.

TERRANCE J. DEGROOD

Hayden