Police cameras give the public accountability

KOB Eyewitness News 4 was the first to report on new lapel video cameras bought by the Albuquerque Police Department. Now we share with you some exclusive footage of the cameras in their testing phase.
APD Officer Robert Gibbs shared video with KOB from an actual call Tuesday night of a fight in Albuquerque. Officers believed the two people fighting ran into a nearby home but it turns out the brawlers left the scene before the officers arrived.
"I could have been involved in some sort of lethal force situation, or where I would have used some form of non-lethal force. It's all on camera," said Gibbs.
The department has been under scrutiny lately about its use of deadly force including the case of Len Fuentes. Police shot and killed him this July after they say he came at an officer with a knife. His mother Sylvia says witnesses have a different version of what happened. She believes police should use the cameras for accountability of their actions.
Fuentes also added that if a camera showed her son doing something wrong, she would have had a hard time defending him. "I've never been that type of a mother. If you put yourself in a [bad] position, how can I cover up for you?"
Right now, a few officers are testing the cameras, including Officer Gibbs. The cameras are slated to replace belt tape recorders now in use. Once the video is shot, it can be transferred into a computer for viewing in just minutes.
About 500 officers in the field could be using the new lapel cameras by January.

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[usmcbess]

These camera's wont make any diference. They can have a "malfunction" and swutch it off before or while arriving at a scene.

There are multiple incidences of these convenient "malfunctions happening during beatings and other unlawful activities by the police.

There are also multiple instances of police deleting videos shot by bystanders or suspects. But they are police so it's not destroying evidence for them.