Cassius Methyl

November 25, 2014

(TheAntiMedia) The Seattle police department recently said they will probably abandon their plan to put bodycams on officers, due to a citizen’s request for video from the bodycams.

They claim they are understaffed and cannot handle giving out so much video from the cameras.

However, they do not lack the resources to ride around horses at Westlake for no particular reason, or send officers to Capitol Hill to do surveillance on coffee shops that denied service to the police.

The Seattle Police Department was set to test out two kinds of bodycams in just several weeks, on only about a dozen officers.

Now, apparently the plan is set to be ‘shelved’ because, as a local news report alleges:

“this week, an anonymous citizen filed a public-disclosure request for a daily list of all the recordings made by dashboard cameras, body cameras, every 911 call officers respond to, and the list goes on.

Police officials worry that fulfilling that request and any others that follow could overwhelm staffers who also need to provide that information to prosecutors and courts, and have other important duties.

The department might be able to charge a fee for such a broad request. Until they can find a solution or the public records laws are changed in Olympia, the body camera program will likely be shelved. “

There is not the hugest problem of police corruption or violence in this city however, therefore there are not many passionate citizens devastated and outraged at police killings pushing for this plan, as opposed to a lot of other cities in America.

At the same time, Seattle has a heavy presence of activists and people who would be quick to hold the police accountable, so it comes as no surprise that someone already requested camera data (that has not even been recorded yet). Seattle’s police department is relatively peaceful in comparison to other American police departments, but some people would say almost all police departments in America are inherently corrupt for enforcing federal laws that are immoral.

So, will anyone stand up to make sure Seattle police follow through and equip officers with bodycams, or is it not the highest priority to police, activists, and Seattle residents alike?

Though if the police were to shoot and kill an innocent person in Seattle, surely activists would hold down the streets and make everyone aware of what happened. Maybe Seattle’s police are relatively peaceful because they know they would be held accountable if they shot an innocent person? I guess we’ll see if Seattle activists want these bodycams enough to put pressure on the department.

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