Police cameras only show what’s on the outside

It’s a publicity stunt, of course, but it’s still nice that the company formerly known as Taser (now Axon) is offering free body cameras to police officers nationwide. I hear all the time from people who believe that body cameras should be mandatory equipment for every police officer.

Although, as a man who left a message on my answering machine this week added: “As long as no one tries to make them mandatory for the rest of us.”

As far as I know, the company formerly known as Taser is not making its free-body-camera offer to all other employers. Whew! One of the many ways we know that police officers are better people than you and me is that we expect them to do things that you and I would never do — such wear a body camera all day at work.

We also ask them to willingly risk their lives for us, every single day they are on the job, but for now, let’s stick with the body-camera thing.

Could you imagine the howling outrage you’d hear if body cameras were mandated to be worn all day in just about any other profession?

Doctors. Lawyers. Accountants. (At tax time? Eek!) Government employees. Politicians. (Wait … that might not be such a bad idea.) And, God forbid, journalists. It’s not that most the rest of us have anything in particular to hide, but …

We couldn’t help but believe that some (or all) of the camera footage would be used against us. Exposing our every mistake. Our every personality flaw. Our every slip of the tongue or unproductive moment. (Hey, maybe we were taking a little time to think … over an adult beverage.) You get the idea. Not every police officer will embrace the idea of wearing a camera. But for the most part, body cameras on police officers are another form of body armor. They protect them.

Cities where cameras are used report big drops in citizen complaints. Not simply because officers behave better, but because citizens are less likely to behave badly or exaggerate claims against an officers when they know there will be footage of an incident.

At the same time, while cameras will immunize officers from some form of attacks, they can’t cure the underlying disease — mistrust.

Cameras are helpful these days, maybe even necessary. They afford a sense of protection to both the police and the public.

But they are a superficial remedy. A salve.

At their best, cameras will reduce the inflammation enough to calm the public’s underlying suspicion and doubt and fear.

But cameras can only record what’s on the outside.

The antidote for our condition lies within.