Will Dashcams Cause Police Problems?

[Southern Dad]

Dashcams in private vehicles is catching on. The price of them is not that high and the quality is actually pretty good. Law enforcement have used dashcams for quite a while. We all know that having a government vehicle means you are not going to get a ticket but in this day of social media could this result in those same people being publicly shamed? This morning, I posted a video to Vine, Twitter, and Facebook of a DeKalb County Government plated vehicle (GV1670B) tailgating a vehicle, exceeding the speed limit, and passing on the right. Right before that 6 second clip he had passed me on the right and pulled up on that car's tail end. It wasn't law enforcement doing its job. The vehicle was in Gwinnett County.

A year or so ago, someone posted video from their dashcam with an overlay from the police scanner where many officers headed to a conference were breaking speed limits. It went viral.

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[Henrin]

Just so you know, the video you posted requires people to sign in to Youtube. Anyway, cops are known for breaking traffic laws when it suits them. I can't even tell you how many cops I have seen turn on their lights to get through a traffic light over the years.

 

[Ikari]

Dashcams in private vehicles is catching on. The price of them is not that high and the quality is actually pretty good. Law enforcement have used dashcams for quite a while. We all know that having a government vehicle means you are not going to get a ticket but in this day of social media could this result in those same people being publicly shamed? This morning, I posted a video to Vine, Twitter, and Facebook of a DeKalb County Government plated vehicle (GV1670B) tailgating a vehicle, exceeding the speed limit, and passing on the right. Right before that 6 second clip he had passed me on the right and pulled up on that car's tail end. It wasn't law enforcement doing its job. The vehicle was in Gwinnett County.

A year or so ago, someone posted video from their dashcam with an overlay from the police scanner where many officers headed to a conference were breaking speed limits. It went viral.

​

For this to really cause issues with the cops, they'd likely need to be caught doing something really wrong. More than speeding or being a jerk.

 

[Southern Dad]

Just so you know, the video you posted requires people to sign in to Youtube. Anyway, cops are known for breaking traffic laws when it suits them. I can't even tell you how many cops I have seen turn on their lights to get through a traffic light over the years.

Thanks for letting me know that. I have fixed it, I believe.

 

[LowDown]

Dashcams in private vehicles is catching on. The price of them is not that high and the quality is actually pretty good. Law enforcement have used dashcams for quite a while. We all know that having a government vehicle means you are not going to get a ticket but in this day of social media could this result in those same people being publicly shamed? This morning, I posted a video to Vine, Twitter, and Facebook of a DeKalb County Government plated vehicle (GV1670B) tailgating a vehicle, exceeding the speed limit, and passing on the right. Right before that 6 second clip he had passed me on the right and pulled up on that car's tail end. It wasn't law enforcement doing its job. The vehicle was in Gwinnett County.

A year or so ago, someone posted video from their dashcam with an overlay from the police scanner where many officers headed to a conference were breaking speed limits. It went viral.

​

From the "bash cops with anything that comes to hand" contingent.

Meanwhile, murder rates are up sharply in 20 major cities in the US. One FBI official thinks it's because cops don't feel like the public has their back any more. And they're right.

 

[Southern Dad]

For this to really cause issues with the cops, they'd likely need to be caught doing something really wrong. More than speeding or being a jerk.

Maybe but it doesn't help their image if citizens start catching them doing things wrong on video. We all know they do it. Remember Barney Fife in the Citizen's Arrest episode? He made that U-Turn in front of Gomer.

 

[Southern Dad]

From the "bash cops with anything that comes to hand" contingent.

One FBI official thinks it's because cops don't feel like the public has their back any more. And they're right.

One thing is that while this vehicle is a Police Interceptor, and it is county government plated, it could be anyone driving or using it. It might not even be assigned to law enforcement any longer, it could now be probation or county administration. I am far from a cop basher.

 

[KevinKohler]

From the "bash cops with anything that comes to hand" contingent.

Meanwhile, murder rates are up sharply in 20 major cities in the US. One FBI official thinks it's because cops don't feel like the public has their back any more. And they're right.

This isn't "the people not having their backs", this is recording people in a public place doing their jobs, and evaluating how well they're doing.

I'll take a page out of the NSA playbook...so long as they're not doing anything wrong, why are they worried about a little increased surveillance?

 

[Ikari]

Maybe but it doesn't help their image if citizens start catching them doing things wrong on video. We all know they do it. Remember Barney Fife in the Citizen's Arrest episode? He made that U-Turn in front of Gomer.

I don't think they're worried about their image.

 

[Southern Dad]

This isn't "the people not having their backs", this is recording people in a public place doing their jobs, and evaluating how well they're doing.

I'll take a page out of the NSA playbook...so long as they're not doing anything wrong, why are they worried about a little increased surveillance?

It is in public. In addition, this DeKalb County Government vehicle was well within Gwinnett County, therefore not on patrol (if LEO).

 

[radcen]

Dashcams in private vehicles is catching on. The price of them is not that high and the quality is actually pretty good. Law enforcement have used dashcams for quite a while. We all know that having a government vehicle means you are not going to get a ticket but in this day of social media could this result in those same people being publicly shamed? This morning, I posted a video to Vine, Twitter, and Facebook of a DeKalb County Government plated vehicle (GV1670B) tailgating a vehicle, exceeding the speed limit, and passing on the right. Right before that 6 second clip he had passed me on the right and pulled up on that car's tail end. It wasn't law enforcement doing its job. The vehicle was in Gwinnett County.

A year or so ago, someone posted video from their dashcam with an overlay from the police scanner where many officers headed to a conference were breaking speed limits. It went viral.

I file this in the "Karma's a bitch." category.

 

[Southern Dad]

I file this in the "Karma's a bitch." category.

My dashcams are always on from when I start my vehicles. I really don't even think about them any more. This time, I thought of it because this vehicle actually passed me on the right, switched to the left lane, then rode the individuals tail before switching to the right to pass them. I was 10 mph over the speed limit myself (55 in a 45). He didn't arrive at his destination any faster because he got stuck at the next light and I found myself right behind him.

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[KevinKohler]

My dashcams are always on from when I start my vehicles. I really don't even think about them any more. This time, I thought of it because this vehicle actually passed me on the right, switched to the left lane, then rode the individuals tail before switching to the right to pass them. I was 10 mph over the speed limit myself (55 in a 45). He didn't arrive at his destination any faster because he got stuck at the next light and I found myself right behind him.

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Dude was just being a douche. Which is fine....except, he was breaking traffic laws to do so.

 

[Henrin]

My dashcams are always on from when I start my vehicles. I really don't even think about them any more. This time, I thought of it because this vehicle actually passed me on the right, switched to the left lane, then rode the individuals tail before switching to the right to pass them. I was 10 mph over the speed limit myself (55 in a 45). He didn't arrive at his destination any faster because he got stuck at the next light and I found myself right behind him.

View attachment 67201517​

That's what I love about people that drive like a bat out of hell. They don't seem to understand the concept of stop lights and how they make speeding many times pointless.

 

[Southern Dad]

That's what I love about people that drive like a bat out of hell. They don't seem to understand the concept of stop lights and how they make speeding many times pointless.

You are very right. Especially in morning traffic with school zones and everything else. You aren't going to get there any faster passing people left and right. Even if you do, what do you save? A minute?

 

[radcen]

That's what I love about people that drive like a bat out of hell. They don't seem to understand the concept of stop lights and how they make speeding many times pointless.

This is the most overplayed and misused "point" regarding speeding. Sure, half the time you catch up to the person who speeds by you at a traffic light. What happens the other half the time? They made the light(s) and you didn't. It's a wash. There is no point to be made.

 

[Southern Dad]

A few years ago, my neighborhood was having a problem with a garbage truck from one specific company. It was driving way too fast, and really operating unsafely. A lady in our neighborhood, sort of a Zimmerman, went around to all the houses that had visible security cameras. She got the footage of Friday morning when the trash truck came through. I live right at the cul-de-sac so mine showed this driver flying in, really flooring the brakes then backing around, before roaring off. After she had all the footage from the neighborhood she posted it on a local forum.

A couple weeks later, trash day moved to Wednesday for that company, in our neighborhood, and there was a new driver. It seems the Friday routes were too long and the driver had to really put the hammer down to get the job done. He actually answered back on the forum. What probably cost him his job was that his replies included lots of bad things about management forcing him to drive faster and such.

 

[Southern Dad]

This is the most overplayed and misused "point" regarding speeding. Sure, half the time you catch up to the person who speeds by you at a traffic light. What happens the other half the time? They made the light(s) and you didn't. It's a wash. There is no point to be made.

Right, then you catch up to them at the next light.

 

[radcen]

Right, then you catch up to them at the next light.

Not necessarily. That's why I said "light(s)"... plural included.

 

[Caine]

This isn't "the people not having their backs", this is recording people in a public place doing their jobs, and evaluating how well they're doing.

I'll take a page out of the NSA playbook...so long as they're not doing anything wrong, why are they worried about a little increased surveillance?

I don't think it is so much this piddly **** they are worried about so much as getting arrested because of political reasons, like Baltimore, when dude with a history of crash for cash schemes stood up and slammed himself down and then ended up dying, and the DA's office not only tries to cover up the medical examiners decision that the spinal injury was consistent with someone standing up and falling with extra force.... and the DA's office told Investigators to ignore the fact that he has a history of "Crash for Cash" schemes, in which one of the Prosecutor's themselves was the Attorney of the recently deceased in one of those prior lawsuits.

This type of **** is why Officers in areas like Baltimore don't give a rats ass, and would rather slowly respond to a scene to clean up the mess than be involved in actively pursuing a suspect, because in real life, policing doesn't always go as planned.

 

[Caine]

My dashcams are always on from when I start my vehicles. I really don't even think about them any more. This time, I thought of it because this vehicle actually passed me on the right, switched to the left lane, then rode the individuals tail before switching to the right to pass them. I was 10 mph over the speed limit myself (55 in a 45). He didn't arrive at his destination any faster because he got stuck at the next light and I found myself right behind him.

View attachment 67201517​

And if that vehicle was actually law enforcement, I can think of a couple of reasons why that vehicle may want to get ahead of other cars in traffic.

Maybe they spotted a vehicle that appeared to be the suspect vehicle in a recent crime, but wanted to get close enough to said vehicle in order to read its tag. It isn't prudent for law enforcement to lights and siren up to a vehicle like that, because if it was a violent crime, now that suspect vehicle knows it may have been spotted, and could take action to avoid being caught up to, etc, etc.

You have to think about what Law Enforcement's job actually is, and not just be thinking about what next to bitch and moan about them for.

 

[Southern Dad]

And if that vehicle was actually law enforcement, I can think of a couple of reasons why that vehicle may want to get ahead of other cars in traffic.

Maybe they spotted a vehicle that appeared to be the suspect vehicle in a recent crime, but wanted to get close enough to said vehicle in order to read its tag. It isn't prudent for law enforcement to lights and siren up to a vehicle like that, because if it was a violent crime, now that suspect vehicle knows it may have been spotted, and could take action to avoid being caught up to, etc, etc.

You have to think about what Law Enforcement's job actually is, and not just be thinking about what next to bitch and moan about them for.

Small problem with that theory. He was a DeKalb County Government Plated Vehicle and he was almost to the county seat of Gwinnett County. Absolutely no reason for him to drive like an idiot.

 

[Cardinal]

Dashcams in private vehicles is catching on. The price of them is not that high and the quality is actually pretty good. Law enforcement have used dashcams for quite a while. We all know that having a government vehicle means you are not going to get a ticket but in this day of social media could this result in those same people being publicly shamed? This morning, I posted a video to Vine, Twitter, and Facebook of a DeKalb County Government plated vehicle (GV1670B) tailgating a vehicle, exceeding the speed limit, and passing on the right. Right before that 6 second clip he had passed me on the right and pulled up on that car's tail end. It wasn't law enforcement doing its job. The vehicle was in Gwinnett County.

A year or so ago, someone posted video from their dashcam with an overlay from the police scanner where many officers headed to a conference were breaking speed limits. It went viral.

​

I watched about a dozen crashes from that video. Every single one was caused by utterly hilarious levels of negligence. In a few of those incidents, there is absolutely no way they weren't the result of someone checking their Instagram.