A shift in thinking towards a state that records absolutely everything in order to impose its will. It is the next terrible step in the information age, where bureaucracy finally catches up. Its a step I intend to slow down as much as humanly possible.
That's not even close to what's being proposed. There's an option: ex-police do have a fair few career choices, and police don't need to engage in field-work. Choice is at play: and there's no invasion of privacy given that, when they are wearing cams, they're servants of the public. What they do should be public: it's already legal to film them. Having it so they can't avoid accountability is a good thing.
Yes, it is well known that the government attempts to coerce countless people into giving plea deals so that they don't get a fair trial judged by their peers. I wouldn't exactly say its a good thing.
People with evidence stacked against them, who are guilty, may confess. That's just how it works. You can't focus on minor cases like they're representative.
The primary use of police is to hold people accountable. Let's step out of imagination land and realize that holding the people accountable who hold the people accountable is redundant.
It's not redundant when they're getting away with murder. The police only work if people can trust them: the fact is, many don't.
That footage will magically disappear and nothing will change except where your tax money is going.
My tax money's going no matter what happens. I'd like it to at least be used for something vaguely useful. If the footage magically disappears, especially if it does so regularly, that's corruption plain and simple, and will be dealt with as such.
"Sorry, we can't pull that footage on account of we deleted it as there was nothing to see" Hah, okay.
Did you even read what I said? Footage of incidents, arrests etc: they'd remain. Deleting that would be an offence. Deleting someone driving along, not so much.
The UK is not full of sprawling suburbs. It is an urban country with a relatively small police force compared to their population. Hello Apple, meet Orange, the guy we're now comparing you to because you both happen to be fruits, and thus are exactly the same.
Never said exactly: just illustrating that they do indeed work, and that a lot of your objections about how feasible their use is simply don't hold water. Storing footage isn't going to become more or less difficult based on terrain; maybe there's a little more in the US due to the larger police force, but it follows there are more resources to store, for example.
Your only argument can be that they somehow won't serve any useful purpose: and that's only the case if they are willing to be openly corrupt. And, sure, maybe they will: not all of them will so we will still see an improvement, and as for the rest, at least it will be out in the open: and from there, it can be dealt with.