Federal civil rights charges unlikely against police officer in Ferguson shooting

[branford]

175. As an aside, I'm a big proponent of officers with cameras.

Although I respect privacy, and do not generally believe that someone needs to be constantly monitored, regardless of whether they are a government employee, the pros vastly outweigh the cons in the police context. Many law enforcement officers actually agree.

A camera truly levels the playing field. Not only does it help ensure that officers follow proper procedure and decorum, thereby minimizing use undue force and harassment, but it also protects officers from unfounded claims and is often used as evidence against arrestees who are violent or otherwise behave criminally, and even helps defend against claims of improper searches, lack of exigent circumstances, and similar matters. One of the reasons why cameras have propagated so quickly among police departments is not so much that they protect the public, but they protect police officers. It's usually a win-win situation for both the public and police.

I very much wish Officer Wilson was wearing a camera and many of the current doubts about the incident dispelled. Nevertheless, even if video evidence proved Wilson followed proper procedure and/or he was attacked by Brown as apparently alleged by Wilson in the grand jury, I sadly believe that many here would still demand he face murder charges to symbolically remedy past institutional racism or under other unfounded and unreasonable pretexts like demands officers only "shoot to wound."