PAX Centurion - September / October 2015

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • September/October 2015 • Page 41 Legal Thoughts: Kenneth H. Anderson, Esq. Byrne & Anderson, L.L.P., Counsel to Members of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association What happens when everyone is watching? J ohn Wooden, the famous men’s college basketball coach, once said that “the true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one iswatching.”There are some peoplewho do the right thing only when others are watching. And there are others who do the right thing all the time. JohnWooden also said “bemore concernedwith your character than your reputation, because your character is what you re- ally are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” In this age of policing, are there still times when no one is watching you? What happens when we live in a world where people are watching you all of the time? And what happens when these people are armed with cell phone cameras to record everything you do? Images of police of- ficers are posted toYouTube faster than you can bat an eye, and in your profession, you must always act like someone is watching. Many years ago, a prisoner was found dead in the District Four suicide cell. An officer came to awake the prisoner in the morning so he could be brought to court, finding only a lifeless body laying on the bench. Over themidnight shift that preceded this discovery, the sergeant had let the inside personnel split the shift as it was a quiet night. During this shift, the prisoner had not been visited on fifteenminute intervals as required by G.L. c. 40, §36(b) and Rule 318, §13. The story I was told by the responding homicide detectives was that the prisoner in the cell across from the dead prisoner claimed that the prisoner was in medi- cal distress before his death. This prisoner acted out for the homicide investigators what he allegedly saw in the cell across from him: he got on his knees, clenched at his throat, and begged for medical help. The prisoner who spoke to the homicide detectives claims that he banged on the bars of his cell and screamed for someone to come help the dying prisoner, yet no one came to aid him. If what this prisoner saidwas true, someone would have lost their job over this incident. And maybe their house too. Fortunately, what was seen on the video of the suicide cell showed that the dead prisoner spent the entire night laying in a sleeping position on the bench in his cell. Even if hewas inspected everyminute, it was impossible to tell when his heart stopped beating. In this case, the cameras saved an officer’s career, and likely saved theCity an expensive pay out. Cameras can hurt us, but they can also save us. Very shortly, the Boston Police Department will be implementing a pilot programwhere some officerswill be equippedwith so-called body cameras. As with everything else, these cameras can help us, but they can also hurt us. In this anti-police climate that we live in, the public expects nothing less than perfection from you. The bar has been set so high that even themost well-intentioned officers are bound to fail when every step they take will be monitored by a camera. Setting aside the absurd Monday morning quarterbacking you will have to endure, you will beworkingwith technology that is not perfect.What happenswhen you can visually see somethingwith your eyes, yet the camera affixed to your chest fourteen inches lower than your eyes does not offer the same perspective?What happens when you see something in your peripheral vision that is not caught on the camera? Or what happens when you hear things behind you that are not captured on a microphone? And what happens when the report youwrote based upon your memory of a stressful call does not line up perfectly with what the camera captured? We all know that in stressful situations, people not only perceive things differently, but they also recall things differently. Now, your imperfect perception and your imperfectmemorywill bemeasuredwith imperfect technology serving as the plumb line. Recently, a junior high school classmate of mine (who was much smarter thanme) posted the below images to Facebook: This post from Eric Cortell, a Massachusetts General Hospital radiolo- gist, shows how deceptive a picture can be, with one x-ray showing a completely healthy leg, while another angle of the same leg re- veals a significant break.The “Lucy Squire” referenced in this post authored the “intro- duction to radiology” book that all medical students read, and these images show us that even the most obvi- ous things can be invisible if only seen from one vantage point. “One viewis noview.” For this reason, radiologists take at least two images from two different angles. A po- lice body camera cannot do this. In your situations, you usually are better off having one perspective taken from a police body camera rather than having no video taken at all, because at least you will have something other than your own word to support your actions. But what happens when that one image does not tell the full or complete story?What happens when your eyes see something the camera does not? Where will you stand with this unforgiving, anti-police public? Just before writing this article, I saw some compelling footage of police in Grafton County, New Hampshire shooting a knife wielding suspect that was captured by a body camera. If you have not seen it, check out this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhMl3Jw9qck. It truly was a “shoot or be stabbed” situation with a deranged, knife wielding person charging at the police.When viewing this video, there can be no doubt that the shooting was justified.Without body cameras, we are stuck in a world where the haters out there will inevitably find a reason to believe that the officers in question did something wrong. Let’s just hope that when things do not look perfect on the body cameras, that people understand that a body camera is not the be-all and end-all. A picture may not tell the true story. Just ask any first year radiology student. Whether you are wearing a body camera or not, keep in mind that no matter what you do, someone will be watching.Your character will be on display whether you want it to be or not. Unfortunately, John Wooden also said the following: “If you are not making mistakes, then you are not doing anything. I am positive that a doer makes mistakes.” We all make mistakes. It’s going to happen. Just remember that in this age of policing, everyone is watching. Keep safe, watch out for each other, and don’t forget to smile for the cameras.