Body cameras are not a perfect solution. As a costly surveillance reform, they’re not guaranteed to deliver justice - but sometimes they do catch things that we need to know about. This was the case for two “unlucky” officers recently caught speaking freely.
Chief Gene Allmond and patrolman John Brooks of Hamilton, Georgia didn’t realize that their body cams were on. They thought it was fine to say whatever they pleased. That included a defense of slavery - and something else utterly despicable.
In addition to justifying slavery by saying “all they had to do is work,” when the topic of Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms of Atlanta and Stacey Abrams came up, the chief said, “If I had to f--k a nigger, I’d rather f--k the mayor than Stacey Abrams.” The discovery caused a major issue.
Hamilton Mayor Pro-Tem Ransom Farley is the first Black man to hold his position, and he brought the video to other officials' attention after the cameras were being checked for faults. Brooks had to be fired, but Allmond resigned. This isn’t the end to this story.
Whenever there’s news about officers getting caught being racist, we have to wonder about all the arrests and actions they’ve taken against Black people. Racists make racist arrests, give racist tickets, and more. The records of the people these bigots affected should NOT be ignored!