The issue of having all police cruisers to have docked cameras documenting their actions while on patrol, is one that many believe could have prevented the deaths of allegedly innocent victims who have been shot by police officers. The footage taken from one police car may have shown an officer’s true colors and perfect evidence why these cameras are a must in all patrolling vehicles.
In Bridgeton, NJ police pulled over a Jaguar for running a stop sign during the night. One of the police officers started yelling to his partner that he could see a gun in the glove compartment, and that is when the scene got hectic.
“Don’t you f—ing move!” and “Show me your hands!,” yells one of officers to the man in the passenger seat, Jerame Reid, the officer then reached into the car and removed a silver handgun.
The passenger then decided to evacuate the Jaguar putting his hands at shoulder level. The police officer then open fired on the man, and killed him on location.
The incident occurred after the events in Ferguson Missouri, and the killings in New York, but it did not receive the attention that the other shootings did, until now. Could it be because Braheme Days, the officer who spotted the gun, was also black? Whatever the case may be, the man shot Reid, has been imprisoned in the past for shooting three state troopers, and left the vehicle despite the officer urging him to stay within it. He did appear to recognize Reid, and even called him by his first name at one moment, could he have feared for his own life knowing this man has killed officers before in the past?
Walter Hudson, chairman and founder of civil rights group, The National Awareness Alliance stated on Wednesday that, “The video speaks for itself that at no point was Jerame Reid a threat and he possessed no weapon on his person. He complied with the officer and the officer shot him.”
Even though the camera within the car documents the story, the controversy still remains as people decide who was right in this situation, the only thing the nation gets to see is what actually happened now, but people will still decide on their own about what should have happened.
Photo: Bridgetown NJ / Police
