Digital Voice Recorders

[Asysin2leads]

What are people's thoughts on using them in the field? Initially, I was against the idea, but after being in a few close calls, and reviewing a study of police officer's dashcams (surprise surprise they exonerate the officer far more than they show any wrong doing) and also, reading the following case from our sainted Civilian Complaint Review Board has changed my mind:

CCRB Investigation: Officer Exhibited Remarkable Courtesy and Professionalism in the Face of a Civilian's Barrage of Insults

At 2:40 p.m., on March 4, 2005, a police officer approached a car that was illegally standing in a bus stop, and issued the driver, a 52 year-old woman, a summons. The woman did not believe she deserved the summons and argued with the officer. The woman subsequently filed a complaint with the CCRB. During her interview with the assigned investigator, the woman said she did not deserve the summons because she was simply waiting to return to flow of traffic after being beaten to a parking space in front of the bus stop. She claimed the officer had spoken discourteously to her, called her stupid, and that when she requested his name and badge number, he shoved his badge in her face.

Assigned to work alone policing traffic and parking offenses, the officer informed the CCRB investigator that he uses a digital recorder to document his interactions with members of public to whom he issues summonses. The recording he made of this incident, which the officer provided to the investigator upon being interviewed, allowed the CCRB to construct the exact details of the verbal interaction, in which the woman, not the officer, was discourteous and threatening.

When the officer approached the car, the woman immediately stated, "I'm not in the bus stop."

The officer replied, "You're in the Q5 bus stop, ma'am."

The woman answered, "No, I'm not."

The woman argued that because she wasn't "parked" she shouldn't get a ticket; the officer explained that the law makes it unlawful to "stand" in the bus stop. The woman became agitated and asked for the officer's name, which he provided. She asked him to spell it and he did. She spelled it back to him, and added, "Yeah, you will hear from me.… I see why things happen to you folks."

The officer asked her, "Why is that?" and she resumed her argument, asserting, "I was not parked in the bus stop."

"Does that say bus stop, ma'am?" the officer asked.

"I was not parked! Do you understand that? Do you understand I was not parked? What part of it do you not understand?… You're being totally ridiculous!"

"Ma'am, your vehicle is in a bus stop right now."

"I was never parked here! No!"

"It [the parking sign] says 'no standing.'"

The argument continued for some time. The officer gave the summons to the woman, who finally said, "I'm not in the mood for you and your mess."

"Thank you for … your statement," the officer concluded. "Have a nice day."

The woman then started to curse, screaming, "You are a Goddamned phony, you bony-assed motherfucker…. You can tape it."

The officer remained calm, and stopped traffic so the woman could leave, stating, "Can you move it out? Go ahead, ma'am. I'm stopping traffic to allow you to get out."

The woman did not move the car, yelling instead: "You're a stupid motherfucker! You stupid son of a bitch! I hope you die right now. You stupid son of a bitch! You stupid motherfucker."

"Okay," the officer said.

"You look like a Goddamned hobo." The audio recording at that point recorded the sound of tires squealing.

The recording proved that the officer never told the woman that she was stupid, and that he politely provided his name to her. To the contrary, the officer spoke to the woman calmly and treated her with respect despite her rude conduct. On September 14, 2005, the board closed the discourtesy allegation the woman had falsely lodged against the officer as "unfounded."

One of the first things I was told when working in the field was always to assume you were being recorded, and its true. Cameraphones, iPods, the expectation of privacy is vitually nil in the modern world. IMHO, if you are a professional provider and are cognizant of your duties and responsibilities and act accordingly, it is far better to have a clear documentation of your actions than leave it the hands of someone else or have it be a "he said, she said" situation. So now I consider a digital recorder part of my standard equipment. Anybody have comments on their experiences with technology like this?

[Just Plain Ruff]

so would it be appropriate to file a lawsuit against the civilian for her filing a unfounded complaint against him? I"ve heard it done before.

I'm all for digital recordings or videos. Who knows who's ass you will save?

[spenac]

But in EMS what is the legal ramifications? Would you have to archive them? Would you have to document in your report that a recording had been made? If you did not make it known that you were recording would it be admissible? :dontknow:

[Dustdevil]

But in EMS what is the legal ramifications? Would you have to archive them? Would you have to document in your report that a recording had been made? If you did not make it known that you were recording would it be admissible? :dontknow:

Good questions. I was carrying a microcasette recorder on my bat belt (as a cop) long before anybody thought to put cameras on the dash, just because I foresaw this kind of thing coming. But I too ran into the same questions. How long do I keep these tapes? I mean, the end of the shift obviously isn't long enough, as most complaints come days later, after the person sobers up or stews over it. And cops don't (at least I didn't) make enough money to buy and keep that many tapes. Digital recorders are definitely an improvement, but again, where do you store it all, and for how long?

Never carried one as a medic, although the thought crossed my mind many times. I like the concept, and agree with it. But the above questions have to be worked out officially, by policy, in order to cover your bases completely.