Frankfort Mayoral Candidate Jason Keller poses for a picture with 4-year-old Elliott Cummins out side the Old Capitol Building in downtown Frankfort. Elliott is the son of Keller's friends Lucas and Amanda Cummins.
In the weeks leading up to the June 23 primary election, The State Journal is asking a weekly question to each Frankfort City Commission and mayoral candidate.
City commissioner candidates have 200 words to respond and mayoral candidates have 300 words to respond.
Frankfort Mayoral Candidate Jason Keller poses for a picture with 4-year-old Elliott Cummins out side the Old Capitol Building in downtown Frankfort. Elliott is the son of Keller's friends Lucas and Amanda Cummins.
Our police should already be wearing body cams and have dash cams as well. This has been in the discussion phase for years, predating all current heads of our police and sheriff's departments. But somehow, locally, it has never been able to get past the talking stage, while full implementation has occurred in the major municipalities all around us. I must say that our constabulary's reluctance to implement this has been er, ah, disquieting. Let's get this done promptly.
One of the primary problems with the body cams, as is apparent from observing the years of actual experience of other police agencies, is that the individual officers can turn off their cams at will, with no real ramifications. Of course, that is totally unacceptable, as it defeats that whole purpose of the requirement to wear them. Our LEOs are on OUR payroll to serve and protect the people, and that demands total transparency, or it is just a sham.
So, as we carry out this requirement, we need to establish some serious incentives that will keep our officers from simply switching off their cams when the going may get a little "tough". I recommend severe penalties for this infraction, something like a months suspension without pay for the first offense of intentionally shutting off your body cam. Second offense should be immediate dismissal (not a resignation), as will be reflected in the officer's official record.
Now, the police "unions" of those officers who have turned off their cams, have fought any attempts to sanction these officers. But let's get real here, they aren't unions (like AFLCIO) but associations. As current events have made abundantly clear, these associations need to become honestly self-critical about police conduct and to not blindly defend each and every egregious incident by officers.
State-Journal.com’s comments forum is for civil, constructive dialogue about news topics in our community, state, nation and world. We emphasize “civil” at a time when Americans, in the words of the current president, need to “turn down the temperature” of political debates. The State Journal will do its part by more carefully policing this forum. Here are some rules that all commenters must agree to follow:
Absolutely no attacks on other commenters, on guest columnists or on authors of letters to the editor. Our print and online opinion pages are sacred marketplaces of ideas where diverse viewpoints are welcome without fear of retribution. You may constructively critique the ideas and opinions of others, but name-calling, stereotyping and similar attacks are strictly prohibited.
Leeway will be given for criticism of elected officials and other public figures, but civility is essential. If you focus your criticism on ideas, opinions and viewpoints, you will be less likely to run afoul of our commenting rules.
Keep comments focused on the article or commentary in question. Don’t use an article about the Frankfort City Commission, for example, to rant about national politics.
Hyperpartisanship that suggests anyone on the other side of an issue or anyone in a particular particular party is evil is not welcome. If you believe that all Democrats are socialists intent on destroying America or that all Republicans are racists, there are lots of places on the internet for you to espouse those views. State-Journal.com is not one.
No sophomoric banter. This isn’t a third-grade classroom but rather a place for serious consumers of news to offer their reactions and opinions on news stories and published commentary.
No consumer complaints about individual businesses. If you’ve had a bad experience with a private business or organization, contact the Better Business Bureau or the government agency that regulates that business. If you believe the actions of a private business are newsworthy, contact us at news@state-journal.com and we will consider whether news coverage is merited.
Absolutely no jokes or comments about a person’s physical appearance.
No promotion of commercial goods or services. Our outstanding staff of marketing consultants stands ready to help businesses with effective advertising solutions.
If you state facts that have not been previously reported by The State Journal, be sure to include the source of your information.
No attacks on State Journal staff members or contributing writers. We welcome questions about, and criticism of, our news stories and commentary but not of the writers who work tirelessly to keep their community informed. Corrections of inaccurate information in news stories should be sent to news@state-journal.com rather than posted in the comments section.
Post a comment as anonymous
Report
Watch this discussion.
(1) comment
Our police should already be wearing body cams and have dash cams as well. This has been in the discussion phase for years, predating all current heads of our police and sheriff's departments. But somehow, locally, it has never been able to get past the talking stage, while full implementation has occurred in the major municipalities all around us. I must say that our constabulary's reluctance to implement this has been er, ah, disquieting. Let's get this done promptly.
One of the primary problems with the body cams, as is apparent from observing the years of actual experience of other police agencies, is that the individual officers can turn off their cams at will, with no real ramifications. Of course, that is totally unacceptable, as it defeats that whole purpose of the requirement to wear them. Our LEOs are on OUR payroll to serve and protect the people, and that demands total transparency, or it is just a sham.
So, as we carry out this requirement, we need to establish some serious incentives that will keep our officers from simply switching off their cams when the going may get a little "tough". I recommend severe penalties for this infraction, something like a months suspension without pay for the first offense of intentionally shutting off your body cam. Second offense should be immediate dismissal (not a resignation), as will be reflected in the officer's official record.
Now, the police "unions" of those officers who have turned off their cams, have fought any attempts to sanction these officers. But let's get real here, they aren't unions (like AFLCIO) but associations. As current events have made abundantly clear, these associations need to become honestly self-critical about police conduct and to not blindly defend each and every egregious incident by officers.
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
State-Journal.com’s comments forum is for civil, constructive dialogue about news topics in our community, state, nation and world. We emphasize “civil” at a time when Americans, in the words of the current president, need to “turn down the temperature” of political debates. The State Journal will do its part by more carefully policing this forum. Here are some rules that all commenters must agree to follow:
Absolutely no attacks on other commenters, on guest columnists or on authors of letters to the editor. Our print and online opinion pages are sacred marketplaces of ideas where diverse viewpoints are welcome without fear of retribution. You may constructively critique the ideas and opinions of others, but name-calling, stereotyping and similar attacks are strictly prohibited.
Leeway will be given for criticism of elected officials and other public figures, but civility is essential. If you focus your criticism on ideas, opinions and viewpoints, you will be less likely to run afoul of our commenting rules.
Keep comments focused on the article or commentary in question. Don’t use an article about the Frankfort City Commission, for example, to rant about national politics.
Hyperpartisanship that suggests anyone on the other side of an issue or anyone in a particular particular party is evil is not welcome. If you believe that all Democrats are socialists intent on destroying America or that all Republicans are racists, there are lots of places on the internet for you to espouse those views. State-Journal.com is not one.
No sophomoric banter. This isn’t a third-grade classroom but rather a place for serious consumers of news to offer their reactions and opinions on news stories and published commentary.
No consumer complaints about individual businesses. If you’ve had a bad experience with a private business or organization, contact the Better Business Bureau or the government agency that regulates that business. If you believe the actions of a private business are newsworthy, contact us at news@state-journal.com and we will consider whether news coverage is merited.
Absolutely no jokes or comments about a person’s physical appearance.
No promotion of commercial goods or services. Our outstanding staff of marketing consultants stands ready to help businesses with effective advertising solutions.
If you state facts that have not been previously reported by The State Journal, be sure to include the source of your information.
No attacks on State Journal staff members or contributing writers. We welcome questions about, and criticism of, our news stories and commentary but not of the writers who work tirelessly to keep their community informed. Corrections of inaccurate information in news stories should be sent to news@state-journal.com rather than posted in the comments section.