Meeting with foreign government officials is not Chief Deane’s job.

You make my point exactly. I don’t question that more firefighters are needed — I don’t know. What I DO question though is not having the foresight to increase staffing, training, equipment or whatever is required rather than wait until we lose one. Unfortunately, “good decisions” can’t be included as a line-item in the budget.

Cheap shot? Nope, don’t think so…the cheap shot is for our public safety leaders not looking forward and planning before we lose one, then, using the loss as justification. Do we need yet another study to determine what we need so we won’t lose yet another?

As I pointed out earlier in the thread…thank you for confirming that Vigilant1. Including these cameras as a line item in the expense column for the cost of the “Resolution” is purely the political maneuver of someone who simply does not want to enforce it. It’s as simple as that.

I have faith in our officers not to profile. I do not have faith in what they deal with not to press false charges against them. That lack of faith involves our homegrown citizens also. Some readers will know exactly what I mean.

I think the information you just put out there is living proof that there is no free lunch. I don’t think we can compare LEO industry standard equipment to camera equipment used on the family vacation or at the kids’ birthday parties as some folks here want to do.

I am just sucking air over the fire and rescue remarks. I don’t think that many of us remember the horror of the events surrounding the tragic death of Firefighter Kyle Wilson because it happened right about the time of the VA Tech massacre, if I am not mistaken. Too much horror to absorb, perhaps. I also do not think that this year is the first time I have heard a request for increased funding for fire and rescue.

Our volunteer and paid fire and rescue personnel are about as fine a people as you would ever want to meet. Each and every time I have had dealings with them, regardless of which fire house I dealt with, I saw a high degree of professionalism.

Perhaps readers would like to see a snapshot of where their money was spent last year.

http://www.co.prince-william.va.us/default.aspx?topic=040026

In addition to trusting the Chief of Police to ask for what he needs to protect his officers and residents of the county, I trust our fire chief to ask for what he needs to protect his firefighters, rescue workers, and county residents.

I heard big promises last fall. I see steady back-pedaling today. Those with the biggest mouths seem to be moving the fastest in reverse gear.

I think it’s more like what Chief Deane has done that is NOT his job.

Doesn’t matter anyway, the BOCS set $1 as the advertised tax rate, three definitely don’t want to go that high (Covington due to commercial). It simply doesn’t all fit. I vote for the LODD for ALL of us over the cameras. I have faith in our PD not to profile. Although, they may need the cameras more as protection from the naysayers than the illegals.

The issue with cameras in cars is that they cannot be off the shelf products. For example, the laptops in the PWC cars are Panasonic toughbook computers - not off the shelf items.

Cameras in police vehicles would have to be waterproof (it does rain and they are in/out of the cars) and shock proof (encased in metal to withstand collisions or you may lose any evidence of any other crime) as well as to withstand damage from suspects who maybe placed in the vehicle. They must be “sealed” so defense attorney’s cannot claim they have been tampered with by the department. Finally, they must be reliable and when you combine the other listed needs, you get what you pay for.

I don’t think anyone has really questioned that they are needed; they ARE needed, but they are needed for soooooooo many more things than as a defense against the charge of the day, “racial profiling.”

We all know that the cameras would be extremely useful in any charges of officer impropriety, DUI, resisting arrest, assault on a police officer etc. …and furthermore, those cameras just might be what it takes to ensure that the officers DO conduct themselves properly and with due respect. Yet, the cameras are justified in the budget as a requirement “to support this here new “rule of law” thing you guys want done.” I don’t appreciate gamesmanship in budget preparation. Of course, the PD will get the cameras, and they should, but they should have, even if it were NOT for 287(g). Come on, let’s stop “loading the deck” when it comes to budget preparation.

The $6M+ Line of Duty Death initiative is another example. It is tragic that we lost a firefighter in the line of duty, but just look, “NOW, we can justify more personnel and more training and more….” If all that money is required now that we lost a fire fighter, I’d rather hire someone smart enough to recognize need BEFORE we lose another firefighter.

How about those folks not driving a car? I think that might be where the problem might exist. Walkers, riders, those kinds of folks.

The issue would arise as a challenge to a patrolman’s determination that probable cause (PC) exists. That’s why Deane wants the cameras, to show in a later court hearing that the patrolman’s determination was reasonable, and not based on racial profiling. If the policy was to ask everyone to show evidence of legal residence, the patrolmen would not have be making a PC determination.

I’ve never heard any rational explanation for making the change.

Lucky Duck or Benton, I saw wearable cameras for police officers on TV. Do you know anything about those? They might have more coverage than a dash mounted camera.

I keep going back to that promise I heard the supervisors make about getting the equipment and personnel that was needed to get the job done.

How many squad cars are there? If each citizen bought one, then the butt head chief could get on with the business of enforceing the law, which is by the way his “only” job. His “job” is not to be a mexican embassy liason for the US government, nor to be a political “toad in the road” for effective law enforcement based on his personal “illegal alien” beliefs. If he can’t do his job, he needs to be fired and a new police chief appointed (or elected whichever it is).