COLUMN: Big Brother and Bigger Brother
In 1949 British author George Orwell published the novel "1984," in which an oppressive government monitors every citizen’s thoughts and actions as a precaution against a powerful central government.
Today, the idea of “Big Brother” watching us is thrown around constantly by political pundits decrying an overbearing government.
Following the shooting death of Michael Brown, his family is pushing for the “Michael Brown Law," which would require body cameras to be affixed to all on-duty police officers to prevent the use of excessive force. On Monday the Obama Administration announced its $75 million "Body Worn Camera Partnership Program," which would give a 50 percent match to state and local police departments that purchase body cameras.
In keeping with his aggressive leadership style, Obama is drafting an executive order that will require federal agencies with programs to supply body cameras to work with law enforcement, civil rights and civil liberties organizations to recommend changes.
The major flaw of Obama’s body camera plan is that it fails to address the actual issues at hand, which are the rules of engagement for police officers and the militarization of local police.
Bigger Brother (the Federal Government) keeping an extra 50,000 eyes on Big Brother (local police), not only completely ignores the issues concerning the population, but having the executive branch sign an order compelling anyone, even police, to be monitored by a body camera screams of the excessive surveillance from Orwell's dystopia.
With specific regard to the Brown shooting, body cameras would probably not have changed the behavior of Officer Darren Wilson, who told ABC News: “I have a clear conscience,” and goes on to affirm, “I did my job right.”
Wilson’s confidence that he followed the letter of the law, as well as the grand jury’s agreement with his position only further demonstrates the matter is not a lack of police accountability but of law and policy.
The Obama administration is not seeking to reform or eliminate programs that furnish local law enforcement with military equipment or calling for a reformation of the rules of engagement for police officers. Advocates of civil liberties must recognize that going down the slippery slope of strapping a camera to an individual’s body to monitor them throughout the day will not change the rules that govern that individual’s actions.
If we are truly concerned about the behavior of police, then the logical next step is to control our civil servants using the principles this nation was founded on: law and order - not sweeping executive control and personal monitoring.
