Body cams

It is breathtaking how quickly body cams became the gold standard for police transparency and accountability.

This technology has been an absolute game changer.  It is no longer a matter of "he said, she said".  Inability to produce body cam footage is seen as self-incrimination. 

In the short time between August, 2014 and today, any police department that has not deployed body cams will lose litigation by default and top management will be automatically broomed.

Poll watchers

I overheard a poll watcher discuss what she saw in a recent election.  Voters came into the precinct and asked, "Who is going to tell me who to vote for so my 'benefits' don't get cut?"

A helpful young man or lady escorted the voter into the voter's booth and told them who to vote for.  Or, if the voter's eyesight was dim or their hands feeble....they would vote for them.  This is a direct violation of US voting law where "partisan" activities must not take place within, or near, the polling place.

It was an assembly line.  There were enough helpful young men and women to greet every voter...whether they asked for help or not.

The poll watcher was unable to stop the assembly line.  It was business as usual.

In other instances, helpful young men and women insulted and intimidated voters lined up to vote.  If you were of the wrong race you were told to go home or you would get thumped up-side the head with a baseball bat.  The election officials did nothing to stop the intimidation.

Body Cams

Body cams will not stop the fraud but they will make the people perpetrating the fraud more accountable. 

If the Social Justice Warriors are formally affiliated with the American Civil Liberties Union, for instance, penalties can be assessed against the ACLU.  The ACLU was not picked at random.  The poll watcher said that the SJWs openly identified themselves as ACLU operatives to the voters.

If the folks perpetrating the election fraud are Attorneys then they can be barred from acting as agents of the court (basically prevented from practicing law or acting in any capacity as an employee of the legal system) for a period commensurate with the elected official's term of office.  The prospect of four or six years without a paycheck tends to have a damping effect on stupid behaviors.

Indeed, it should not just be the poll watchers wearing body cams.  It should be every person taking home a stipend as an election worker.  The sauce that is good for the goose (or cop) should be good enough for the gander.

It is not as if body cams are all that expensive.  They have less "guts" than a smart phone and China sells low-end smart phones by the pallet load at $15 per unit at the factory gate.

The only question in my mind is whether it happens this election cycle or next.  My bet is that the poll watchers have them this cycle, at least in the highest risk precincts, and everybody has them next cycle.