Should Cedar Rapids have video cameras in every squad car?
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A dash camera is shown inside a Cedar Rapids police patrol car on Friday, Dec. 7, 2012. Currently, 21 Cedar Rapids police cars don't have working in-car video cameras, as the department goes through an upgrade. (Jeff Raasch/The Gazette)
Investigations into two high-profile cases involving Cedar Rapids police officers will be conducted without the luxury of video and audio evidence that normally would have been available.
Twenty-one patrol cars, about one-third of the department’s fleet, are not equipped with working dashboard cameras as the department works through an upgrade it was forced to make. Officials said it will likely be two or three years before all the police cars have cameras again.
A patrol car without a camera was first on the scene Tuesday morning when Desirae A. Daniel, 27, of Cedar Rapids, was shot and killed by police after they say she pulled a gun after a police chase. As a result, police said there is no video footage of the shooting.
The same was true of the police car that transported Paul R. Saldivar, 33, of Cedar Rapids, to jail on the evening of May 10. Saldivar mysteriously stopped breathing in the patrol car and died a week later at a hospital. Police have said Saldivar was intoxicated and hit his head on an armrest, but conclusive findings about how he died have not been released.
Cedar Rapids police Sgt. Cristy Hamblin said there are no plans to put cameras in the 21 police cars that are without cameras. Instead, the cars will be taken out of service when they reach 135,000 miles and replaced with brand new patrol cars, which will have cameras pre-installed. Officials said the alternative is to put a new camera system, which costs about $5,200, into a patrol car that is nearing the end of its life-cycle.
Police Chief Wayne Jerman said he agrees with the strategy that was decided before he arrived in Cedar Rapids, even if it means the absence of video evidence in some cases.
Do you agree? Should Cedar Rapids officials do what it takes to make sure every patrol car has video cameras on board?
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They need to be in every squad car. In light of the recent events the question not answered is why the old cameras were removed before the upgrades were installed or before the new cars were bought?
Well, that explains why they had half a dozen cars running that sneaky laser speed trap on cars entering CR from the north where the speed limit changes.
Fortunately, speedtrap smartphone app users already had the trap reported, but the revenuers had 4 drivers who, as they used to say back in the 70s, “didn’t have their ears on, good buddy”.
Yes, all patrol cars should have cameras for the safety of the Officer and to use as a tool to gather evidence. It does make sense to wait until the new units arrive with cameras installed.
Were I a police officer, I would want a camera in my squad. Having recorded video of an incident not only answers the many questions arising afterward, it serves as a training tool. What, if anything, went wrong? What could I have done differently? Were there alternatives? I don’t buy the notion that cops are trigger happy. Video can prove that. It can also stop a lot of game playing in court. You claim you didn’t commit this crime? We have video to prove you did! A business needs video of a shoplifter to successfully prosecute the offender. For law enforcement, video is vital!
you would think with that revenue generators, errr, “speed safety cameras”, they’d have more than enough money to buy these things?
Well who do they catch, other than unaware out-of-towners? It seems that everyone slows down as they approach them, then (some of us) speed up. Plus, they have to split the take, errr… I mean the civil penalty, with the Gatso Corporation.
If anything, they’re a nuisance, as some folks reduce their speed to well under 55, even though the lowest speed ticketed is 67 mph.
Officials said the alternative is to put a new camera system, which costs about $5,200,
That 5,200 isnt really too much when it is compared to maybe a cop getting caught doing what they shouldnt be doing, and could even save a life or two.
I am from the old school which believes if a person didn’t have a gun when they were shot by a cop, they will by the time they are on the ground dead, unless a video can prove otherwise.
Hell Yes there needs to be working dash cam in all police squad cars! If there is no dash cam in the car the car shouldn’t be able to be used. I recently lost my best friend Desirae Daniel. There was supposedly no dash cam in the police car that the officers were driving who shot and MURDERED Desirae. The TRUTH will never be known now. I think if the police car does not have a camera in it or a camera that works then it shouldnt be able to be on the streets or the public should only be required to stop in a public place