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Cops With Google Glass: Horrible Idea, Or Good One?
Nerval's Lobster writes "Earlier this week, news reports leaked that the NYPD is evaluating whether to give its officers Google Glass for investigations and patrols. Google, which is sensitive to accusations that it works hand-in-hand with governments or law-enforcement agencies to monitor civilians, suggested that the NYPD must have purchased the units on its own initiative, rather than partner with the company. Some pundits and many civil libertarians hate the idea of law enforcement wearing Google Glass or other electronics that can send a constant stream of video and audio to a government (or even third-party) server. But at the same time, wearing Google Glass could also compel cops (and other law-enforcement personnel) to be on their best behavior at all times, particularly when it comes to use of force; the prospect of instantly available video detailing every aspect of an officer's shift could prove a powerful incentive to behave in a courteous and professional manner. But that's a very broad assumption; the reality—if cops really do start wearing Google Glass and other video-equipped electronics in large numbers—will likely end up determined by lots and lots of lawsuits and court-actions, many of them stemming from real-world incidents. Do you think cops should have Google Glass and other wearable electronics? And if so, what sort of regulations could be put in place to ensure that such technology isn't abused by the powers that be?"
and anything it sees that's in your favor, they can just discard.
That's how it works currently when it comes to other kinds of evidence, no reason to think Glass data will be any different.
This would absolutely raise the bar of performance for a lot of cops. As the summary says, knowing that you're being monitored all of the time would keep the cops on their best behavior.
Just got my glass last week, and the way I see it (pun!), it is ok for the cops as long as it is ok for the public at large too.
I DO NOT MIND if google helps police agencies investigate crimes better by making google glass some type of Minority Report style computer (sans the whole crime prediction thing aspect of the movie).
I DO MIND if they build government backdoors to my data.
Not really hard, completely seperate things. But google is trying to bamboozle the public with nonsequiturs.
and this site design still runs horribly on this phone despite it being the latest designer phone!
I've got news for you: Whether a phone is a designer phone or not has zero effect on how well or how badly it renders a web page. What matters is the hardware and software inside the device.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
Yes, it's a horrible idea. End of argument.
My concern would not be that it would compel officers to be on their best behavior at all times, that is something I'd generally look at as a perk. Instead I'd be worried about how we would then judge cops job performance. This could very well remove the cops ability to ignore trivial and insignificant breaches of law that go on around them, as well as giving people a pass. With cops performance already often judged by the frequency of their tickets this could just open a new opportunity to diminish their role as protectors of the people.
I don't see a problem with the police using Google Glass provided that if they do, the use is non discretionary and that the unedited video is provided in full upon demand by the public or accused. After all, we don't want the police turning off their glass if they're about to do something questionable. And we don't want anything that's in the favor of the accused to be discarded because it's "not relevant"
If they are just wandering around recording everything they see, its bad. If they are going to limit to recording 'interactions' then its not much worse than dash cams.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
and make it available for the defense... or its a bad idea.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
Every single person on the government payroll should wear one, and the video and audio live streamed on the internet.
Any gaps in the record are presumptive evidence for employee malfeasance, and public innocence..
Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
Even up here in the land of the actually free, police are starting to wear cameras (http://globalnews.ca/news/1093386/canadian-police-forces-looking-to-arm-officers-with-cameras/)
In my opinion, a camera on a cop is nothing more than an accurate, verifiable eye witness. It won't see or hear anything the officer won't already see and hear. Much better than an officer's memory and notebook.
Using google glasses... good. It won't provide any more information than the officer already has access to, or that can't be mined off a conventional camera's video. It may just provide the info quicker, when the officer needs it.
Maybe it's because I'm a white guy with a job. Maybe it's because I'm Canadian. But as a rule, I trust cops. Sure you get the odd bad cop, or a good cop making a mistake or having a bad day, but that happens with all people. Giving the cops a tool that provides information that might help reduce mistakes, and provides evidence both for and against them, to me is a good thing.
and this site design still runs horribly on this phone despite it being the latest designer phone!
Everything runs badly on a Windows Phone®
especially if they are live streaming to the internet where anyone can watch it, that way if the police are guilty of brutality the evidence will be obvious, and on the other side of the coin if the officer is doing his job properly the evidence will be there to clear the officer of any misconduct
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
Jesus Christ, are you stupid? It is one of the more popular phones on the market, and there is a slim, albeit nonzero chance, that WP8 will actually become very popular very soon.
I can understand people having the occasional toke, even if I don't personally care for it, but I draw the line at people injecting stuff directly into their veins.
No, the built in processor can detect how "hip" you are and clocks the CPU according to your hip factor.
See this video for more technical details on this amazing Microsoft invention: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
for use in an arraignment at the minimum. A sworn affidavit and the video evidence. it makes any look of impropriety or bias, out of the question. Why on earth would anyone that wants fair and impartial justice oppose this? Especially considering the question of incarcerating someone who's not yet found guilty?
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...as long as the citizens can keep on recording on theirs. Fair's fair.
"I'm sorry, we can't release the officer's Glass-cam video at this time, as it's part of an ongoing investigation."
"Due to the overwhelming amount of video collected by our officers, we can only retain video streams for n days. Since the incident in question occurred (n+1) days ago, there's simply nothing that can be done to retrieve that data."
"Our department's forensic computer investigation unit has confirmed that the officer's Glass-cam was malfunctioning on that day and all attempts to recover video from the incident have proven unsuccessful."
cops should obviously be recording and recorded at all times. this will make sure that they are not abusing their power. we live in an age where we should expect everything we do in public to be visible on the internet eventually. i dont see any issue with cops being able to record everything they see in public. at least if every cop has video, fewer criminals will get away with crime due to ridiculous reasons.
They don't stay on very well. The weight of them makes them fly off if you turn your head really quickly. Give em to cops and they'll break in the line of duty in a day.
But I think that cops should be REQUIRED to use wearable recording devices when in the field. It's a natural, personal extension of the dashcams that are already standard. In fact, absence of a recorded interaction after an arrest should be considered suspicion of evidence tampering.
'Glass, or just a head or shoulder mounted camera. Just yesterday, I saw a cop in my local grocery store with a shoulder mounted camera.
What the difference between that and 'ooohh shiny Google Glass'?
I think Google will hate this since there will be massive reports from the cops that the Google Glass malfunctioned.
Google glass for cops is not about video recording. Even if it starts there, it's not about that. It's about facial recognition.
Every cop being able to know, looking at a person, who that person is, where they work, where they live, whether there are any warrants, what their facebook page says, what political party they are... almost anything big data can generate.
This is one of the single biggest threats to individual freedoms we have ever seen.
Even up here in the land of the actually free, police are starting to wear cameras (http://globalnews.ca/news/1093386/canadian-police-forces-looking-to-arm-officers-with-cameras/)
In my opinion, a camera on a cop is nothing more than an accurate, verifiable eye witness. It won't see or hear anything the officer won't already see and hear. Much better than an officer's memory and notebook.
Using google glasses... good. It won't provide any more information than the officer already has access to, or that can't be mined off a conventional camera's video. It may just provide the info quicker, when the officer needs it.
Maybe it's because I'm a white guy with a job. Maybe it's because I'm Canadian. But as a rule, I trust cops. Sure you get the odd bad cop, or a good cop making a mistake or having a bad day, but that happens with all people. Giving the cops a tool that provides information that might help reduce mistakes, and provides evidence both for and against them, to me is a good thing.
It depends on the department. Different departments have different cultures, and there are a lot of good cops, or cops who are good when dealing with a particular person or issue. (Like responding to certain issues of a white guy with a job.) But there are also a lot of bad cops who will beat the crap out of you because they want to--I've heard specifically of problems in L.A. and Nevada, for example.
..they can be used for good and bad...but usually bad.
fencepost
just a little off
It seems to be the camera that has made it popular, not the operating system. What happens when android ships on something with over 40mp?
http://soylentnews.org/~tibman
That prints out their prime directives onscreen using the ol good green text?
Ah yes, Cop Space augmented reality in the book Rule 34. Hopefully, the future won't be like the rest if that novel - though even that would be better than /. Beta.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
Communities of Practice?
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
I think it's great for cops to be recording what they're doing, as long as their video can't be destroyed (until a standard time-based dump applied to all recordings not being used as evidence), and as long as individuals remain free to record cops as well.
However, there are all kinds of issues with Google Glass and other smart video processing being used, not only by cops, but by individuals as well.
So imagine a world where cops all have smart glasses and are running apps that do face recognition combined with database lookups. So instead of stop-n-frisk based on race, they can stop-n-frisk based on "He's a known convict" or "He once Tweeted that he likes to get high" or "He's unemployed, but walking out of a high-end department store", etc...
Likewise amongst civilians, smart glass apps tied to mugshots.com, sex offender databases or other public records... political contributions, licenses, etc...
Cops hate to be recorded. They will find a way to punish you for wearing a glass while dealing with them.
And they will undoubtedly delete whatever portions of their recordings don't show them in a favorable light. A few minor deletions can totally shift context, and hence the meaning, of anything anyone says.
Despite all of these objections, however, I am for it. In the real world, that which can be observed can be recorded. Using the law to resist this is futile, and harmful.
"Compel cops"
The idea that this will ever be used in benefit of citizens is laughable. With all of the facial recognition and data aggregation apps coming down the pipe, this is just an easy-button to turn the benign into "probable cause".
Fortunately, I don't think wearing Shemaghs is illegal in NYC, though it may be when the PC PPansies start pissing themselves when everyman walking down the street "looks like a terrorist".
while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
... we already have plenty of cop shows that give us a general idea how officers let others off.. Further, I doubt it will be public record except later, or at hearings, and there will always be exceptions - like maybe detectives, or people who work contacts..
-Ultimate Stickman Game Developer Infinite World Puzzler
If they can walk down the sidewalk and instantly categorize everyone around them, no thank you.
These two scenarios would suck, but stay out of trouble and this won't happen:
"Hey you! You have unpaid tickets!" Pounce.
"Hey you! You have a warrant 5 states away for blah!" Pounce.
But, it could also label people by beliefs and behaviors:
Glass says, "Known Muslim" Or "Known Christian" Or Democrat, or union member, or 1/2 black even though they don't look it. Or 'Arrested 12 years ago.'
The risk of them choosing people to abuse goes up the more they know about those people.
So no. Camera, fine. But HUD and immediate detailed info on every face it sees? Hello no.
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This would absolutely raise the bar of performance for a lot of cops. As the summary says, knowing that you're being monitored all of the time would keep the cops on their best behavior.
The summary is pretty much wrong.
Just because they are wearing it does not mean its recording.
In fact you really don't have enough storage or bandwidth to record an 8 hour shift.
There are body-cams especially designed to record police encounters for a full shift, but Google Glass is not one of them.
So lets put all that nonsense of monitoring the cop away.
The facial recognition capabilities are something to worry about in the future, but I doubt this is available in real time, at least not real time enough for police work. The best it could do would be to ship an image of face off to some computer farm in the sky for matching, with results coming back some minutes or hours later.
In fact the ability to take pictures and have maps (hud) would probably be the most beneficial thing it would have to offer, just like it does
for everybody else.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
Electronic Glasses can be vewwy vewwy dangerous.
test
I wonder how it will change?
I've heard this claimed before, in other articles about Google Glass. When did Google develop batteries that last forever?
Stasis is death. Embrace change.
They already have equivalents to them, these will just improve the quality of the data. What I want is for all citizens to have access to the live feed.
On a positive side, this could lend some good statistics on the possible dangers of having a wifi device attached to your skull all day.
=-kiOwA-> EOF
You never hear about the good cops, except on slow news days.
Unfortunately, my life has led me to a point where I can never trust a cop or have love for law enforcement. I've met good cops, guys who truly believe they can do good with their badge and who often choose not to enforce laws they see as unnecessary (which, unfortunately, is a problem in and of itself). Bless them for trying to do good in society while so many are either apathetic or downright evil.
But, in the end, FTP because ACAB and 911 is a Joke. And I feel like more members of each new generation feel this way than the last, and I hope the powers that be understand they are on a collision course with historical truths, IE, what is outlined in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence or the opening words of Fighting For Our Lives.
I don't think I want to be in the western world when it collapses. I think we are such a violent bunch that even I might not survive, and I've spent years homeless, did time in Iraq, and so forth. I still don't have faith I'd be able to guide my family through the chaos of a societal meltdown in a culture which is so coddled and takes so much for granted. I think we need to GTFO here and definitely within the next ten years.
Obtaining evidence.
If that involves an incident with professional conduct, its still evidence and can be verified.
every aspect of an officer's shift could prove a powerful incentive to behave in a courteous and professional manner.
Or, would it prove a more powerful incentive to make people respect cops. Especially as their now being recorded with potential evidence?
Since I sympathize with cops and google "products" seem to be stuck in eternal Beta, I'd say it's a horrible idea. If you don't agree you're welcome to test drive the /. Beta.
This is the case that I was referencing specifically. The only thing the man was guilty of was being incapable of following the officers' orders and we all know how authoritative thugs hate it when someone doesn't listen to them. This was not supply second decision making, the man was completely unarmed. This was just a ruthless murderous beating.
The best thing about UDP jokes is I don't care if you get them or not
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Kelly_Thomas The actual link
The best thing about UDP jokes is I don't care if you get them or not
Or coming true. It'll be interesting to see what else he was right about.
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
I believe that there are a lot more people who lie about bad cop behavior then there are bad cops. I expect with such tools most of the complaints about cop behavior would disappear. But I also believe that any cops whose camera's recording was lost should be in serious trouble. Most cops are good, but there a some bad ones.
I would completely support Google Glass on police if (and only if) there are penalties to the participating police departments for 'accidentally' losing the footage or having a 'malfunction'. These two things both sem to happen at a shocking rate whenever a policeman is accused of misconduct.
---- I'll take you in a Hunt deathmatch any day.
What a great idea! Eventually, they can just start sending out "drone" cops, and the real humans can sit in a safe office monitoring activity.
Cops wearing Google Glass could be your opportunity!
Let us know how it goes.
I'm no photographer, but it seems to me it'll still have the standard crap lens system all phones have. And stick on lens miss the point of phones - that you should be able to put them in your pocket.
Certainly a questionable case, though without witnesses it was always going to be a difficult case to prove. Schizophrenics can be extremely violent and unpredictable. More importantly its actually a counterargument to you assertion. The police officers involved had charges laid against them, those charges were upheld several times through appeal, they were acquitted yes, but by a jury.
I probably won't own Glass until it can actually be built into eyewear directly and is more affordable, but I'm fine with law enforcement using it as a tool, as long as they agree that we can use it too.