DEAR BULLETHEAD:
Is it OK to delete dash cam video if it makes me look bad even though I did the right thing? Also, what's the appropriate form of ostracization [sic] within the blue line for someone who speaks out against deleting such video? Or is that something best left to the higher-ups?
— David, VIA Facebook
Just so Ol' Bullethead is clear on this one, you are asking me if it is OK to destroy evidence? Ummmmmm—NO! We stand on the law and for the law. We never destroy evidence regardless of how it makes us look. To even ask such a thing of me is absurd.
Now I'm racking my brains to come up with a day at work or a day off where I didn't do at least a few things that make me look stupid. Whenever I see myself on one of those videos, I think I look stupid. Being able to admit to myself that I make mistakes and look stupid on a regular basis is quite freeing and humbling. We should all try it out.
I'm sure all of us have seen plenty of dash cam video where cops look really stupid. Regardless of what we look like, as soon as those videos or digital recorders start rolling—during a police contact—they become evidence. Most agencies I'm familiar with have a policy in place that doesn't allow the destruction of any recorded video or re-recording. At my agency this means even if someone has a misfire on one of those devices and ends up looking incredibly stupid or saying something way out of line, we aren't allowed to delete it.
I know plenty of cops who have done all sorts of things to get around this rule. Some have gone as far as losing their recorder because they know the number of recordings are sequential and tracked. The agency outsmarted that idea and started going with a direct wireless download. I've heard of cops at other agencies actually hitting the hard drives on these with powerful magnets. I don't know if that works or not. I can't imagine doing police work and needing to hide things so much that I might try a huge magnet. That sounds a lot more like something a crook does than a something a cop does.
The second part of your question is almost as ridiculous. It sounds to Ol' Bullethead like you're asking me if cops should speak out against someone doing the right thing. I'm wondering if you were thinking I'd say other cops shouldn't stand with a cop doing the right thing? Frankly, I think all the cops who don't speak out about destroying evidence, video or otherwise, should go find another job. The cops who do speak out should get promoted or given the best jobs in the agency.
This is one of the issues we still face in police work: cops doing the wrong things and other cops protecting them. This is one of the reasons the public is demanding recordings from us in the first place. This goes for cops getting in an extra punch or kick and leaving it out of the report. It goes for cops crossing the 4th Amendment lines on a search and lying about it. It absolutely goes for any cop who destroys or manufactures evidence of any kind.
What the blue line stands for is right over wrong, with the men and women of law enforcement standing as the line between the two. We stand together against wrong and back each other up when fighting against those who prey on the weak. When cops cross those lines—so they can keep their job or get an arrest—they become the ones who prey on the weak. There should be no ostracizing of anyone who does this. The higher-ups should just have to do the paperwork because the cops should be pushing out the people who cross these lines.
What you need to do is go forward and do your job correctly, with honor and within the lines. Never delete another video regardless of how stupid it makes you look. Tell all the cops you work with to never delete a video. If they continue to destroy evidence, you should speak out against them. Be the model for the kind of cop you wanted to be when you first put on your badge. When you're out working, stand up for the weak and protect your partners who are doing the same. When you're around the station, don't let anyone ostracize cops who do the right thing. Bullies have no place in this profession.
Got a question or complaint?
Let Bullethead hear about it. He'll give you his optinion With Both barrels.
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or fax him at 858-638-2601.
