Quote:This isn't too far off from what I would ultimately like to see, actually. If cops are all wearing body cameras, that footage is all public record, and wiping or altering footage becomes a felony and invalidates any and all criminal charges associated with it, things would improve. I'm not sure by how much--it just takes one person on a jury to buy the "I feared for my life" defense regardless of what the cameras show--but it would certainly help.


That's called "reasonable suspicion", and when the cop asks the driver to step out of the vehicle for a field sobriety test, they have probable cause for doing so. Likewise, if someone appears to be driving stoned, there's no problem with ordering them out of the vehicle and searching it.


The problem is when cops randomly decide that someone is a criminal, then go through the motions of getting them to surrender their rights rather than establishing probable cause where none exists.