Body Cams aren’t Just a Good Idea for White Cops, but for White Civilians, too

By Jerry PDX

I’m going back to your column about being attacked by black racists on the street and the aftermath. I have a suggestion. Have you ever considered wearing a body camera?

I realize that phones have cameras, but there’s a problem. You have to pull it out, turn it on, and then switch to camera mode. By that time, the beginning of an altercation has passed and your attackers can make any claim they want about what was said or happened.

One thing about new technology is that cameras are smaller and cheaper than ever before, affordable for just about anyone. Just as part of your daily routine you can affix a camera to your lapel and have it running anytime you’re outside on the streets where you can be subjected to assault. If nothing happens, simply delete the day’s events and begin recording again the next day.

I work in a large city downtown, and while most days are uneventful, there are some when something happens and I wish I had a camera to capture it. It almost always happens too fast for me to use my phone.

If you had a camera on during those times you were racially victimized, imagine how different things would have been, liars would have been exposed and the attackers shown for the violent racists they are. Maybe it’s been a long time since something like that happened, but when you’re least expecting it, a violent, racist, black could decide to attack you – and you’ll be damned glad you had a camera running, if it does happen.

It’s the beginning of the incidents that are most important. You know as well as I the racist blacks will always use the “he-called-me-nigger” defense. That will immediately put a white person in a position of presumed guilt, and the burden of proof will be on the white person to disprove it. I’ve been experimenting with Go Pro cameras, and while that’s a little conspicuous to use, it still could be workable. Here are some other possibilities: http://www.spytecinc.com/mini-button-spy-camera.html?gclid=CKf9zaWnmcoCFZOBfgodNyIE_g

Even if you don’t catch any violent altercations, you can catch a lot of those small provocations that blacks always engage in. I can hardly walk around without a racist black giving me a threatening look, making threatening sounds or gestures (a black walked by me a couple weeks ago and threw an air punch in the direction of my head saying, “Kapow!”). Just a suggestion, might be interesting what you record and then you could post videos on youtube or some of the pics on your blog.

N.S. That’s an excellent idea, Jerry. Thanks.