Monday, October 27, 2014

Cam it, dammit!

Is there money to be made selling body cams? While bringing peace on Earth?

In the US earlier this year, it became officially legal for people to use their phone cameras to film videos of policemen making arrests. When cops use excessive force, that video becomes evidence that often helps their victims obtain justice ($). A strata of rotten behavior is being more and more exposed, each instance becoming a very public record that will taint the brutal for life.

 Police forces are countering - and restraining their officers themselves - by wearing body cams.

Cams first appeared as a solution to police malpractice in police cars, where they record interactions with drivers who have been stopped. Now there are small body cams that police can clip onto their lapel. They are reported to massively reduce complaints of police violence and reports of police abuse. These cameras reduce the cost of defending officers in court; they reduce the amount paid out in judgements.

Police body cams normalize dialogue between police and civilians. Everybody is polite.

Suppose...

     ... suppose the Middle East were filled with body cams? Anyone could record acts of oppression, then have a friend upload the video. Everyone would know that their acts, especially when abusive or violent, might become part of a permanent historical record.

Would people become more polite?

The cheapest body cam appears to be selling for $38 on Amazon. One wonders what they would sell for in the back rooms of a Middle Eastern marketplace?  There may be a chance for entrepreneurialism here.  Network marketing.

Suppose many, many body cams were air-dropped into ISIS strongholds?  Suppose Palestinians suddenly started wearing body cams? Or Israeli soldiers?

The market for these things is immense, I tell you!  Much, much money to be made.

Bringing peace to Earth.

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