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OK. But can we afford not to make this change? The status quo means a large segment of the population simply doesn't trust the police. And there's good reason why that lack of trust exists.
In the "old" days, good police knew their beats, got their feet on the ground, used the opportunity to really talk to people hanging out in their neighborhoods. Today, the only times you talk to the police in most neighborhoods are when they're unhappy with you.
It's either find a way to get police into neighborhoods on a more positive basis, which means tens of thousands of new cops and a lot more than $32 million for New York, or it's this more formal approach, where if there's a complaint, someone can review a tape and make it public. At this point, I think the latter approach makes more sense. Then, in time, everyone will have more trust in their interactions with police.
Fundamentally, I trust the police. But I can understand why many don't. The status quo really doesn't work for many communities, especially where there are a lot of minority people who feel, rightly or wrongly, that the cops aren't there to help.
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