Is a body cam my best legal protection as a CCW Person?

[Kimber]

I Think (but cannot prove) that Body cam footage will exonerate Lawful use of a firearm.
Instead of a He says - He says, it becomes “The video shows”.

have purchased an inexpensive Body cam for @ $40.00. I have not received it yet, but it advertises to Loop 8 hours.

I have many other questions and points for discussion, but I will limit This post to the primary question asked in the title.

 

[conditionzero]

It would also show everything you did wrong. Everything you could have done, gone, etc, instead of presenting and possibly discharging your firearm.

No thanks as a civilian. Makes sense for LEO.

 

[Kimber]

I would like to specify that I am in no way saying that I believe anything like this should be mandatory.

I just believe that the fact that the video could be used against me is outweighed by the fact that "This is what actually Happened."

 

[JEVapa]

I vote no. It's just like not closing your mouth when you get arrested...anything can be used against you.

 

[rifleman 1981]

The last thing you want is to be scrutinized in hindsight after the fact. You may have been acting in good faith but that may not be what the camera catches. As a cop wearing a body camera, I can tell you perception is everything to a jury, and there’s things the camera can’t catch that’s as damming as what it does catch sometimes.

 

[Kimber]

"The last thing you want is to be scrutinized in hindsight after the fact. "

I agree with this in what I believe is the spirit that is tendered.
However, every anti 2A wacko is going to offer opinions and scrutinize my conduct if I am involved in a completely legit use of force incident. Video from my body cam won't really influence whether they engage in this conduct or not. this. If I don't have video, they will do this and if I do have video, they are still going to do this.

My belief is that if I am acting in a lawful manner I have less to fear from the truth as shown by the video than someone who is acting in an unlawful manner.
The presumption in my original post is that My actions are lawful.

I would submit to you that this is somewhat of thread drift in that the subject is really about CCw and not LEO. I am going to drop the LEO tie in except to say that I think that overall Dashcam and body cam footage is in my opinion been a boon to LE. When the headlines say, "Police shoot man after traffic stop" and the dashcam video shows the individual exiting the vehicle and attacking the officer with a weapon. Nuf said.


I hope you don't take anything I have said as an attempt on my part as any kind of personal attack or attack on law enforcement. I apologize if anything I said seems offensive in any manner.

 

[cowzrul]

Your average citizen will never get in an altercation so one would question why would you walk around with a body cam? Would a lawyer take the angle you are looking for an altercation?

 

[Kimber]

Your average citizen will never get in an altercation so one would question why would you walk around with a body cam? Would a lawyer take the angle you are looking for an altercation?

Will "A Lawyer" (District attorney?) take the angle that carrying a concealed weapon is evidence that I am looking for an altercation? Maybe to both questions.
I hope that video evidence that I repeatedly tried to disengage and deescalate before being forced to defend myself would carry more weight.

Your statement that "Your average citizen will never get in an altercation" is questionable and would seem to argue against Lawful Carry. "You'll never get into an alteration."

I pray every day that I'll never get into an alteration.
I hope that if I am so unfortunate, 2 things. First that I survive. Second that I survive the legal S storm I feel will be the sure result of such an encounter.

The reason for this post is seeking input on how to survive the latter.

 

[rifleman 1981]

"The last thing you want is to be scrutinized in hindsight after the fact. "

I agree with this in what I believe is the spirit that is tendered.
However, every anti 2A wacko is going to offer opinions and scrutinize my conduct if I am involved in a completely legit use of force incident. Video from my body cam won't really influence whether they engage in this conduct or not. this. If I don't have video, they will do this and if I do have video, they are still going to do this.

My belief is that if I am acting in a lawful manner I have less to fear from the truth as shown by the video than someone who is acting in an unlawful manner.
The presumption in my original post is that My actions are lawful.

I would submit to you that this is somewhat of thread drift in that the subject is really about CCw and not LEO. I am going to drop the LEO tie in except to say that I think that overall Dashcam and body cam footage is in my opinion been a boon to LE. When the headlines say, "Police shoot man after traffic stop" and the dashcam video shows the individual exiting the vehicle and attacking the officer with a weapon. Nuf said.


I hope you don't take anything I have said as an attempt on my part as any kind of personal attack or attack on law enforcement. I apologize if anything I said seems offensive in any manner.

Not at all, I was just giving a different perception from someone with experience wearing one daily. No way, as a as a private citizen wear a body cam.

 

[cowzrul]

Your statement that "Your average citizen will never get in an altercation" is questionable and would seem to argue against Lawful Carry. "You'll never get into an alteration."

I'm a full believer in lawful carry. Heck, I believe you can carry a body cam if you so desire. I don't think its necessary and since you posted on the internet I gave you my first reaction.

In 1987 as a young Marine stationed in Norfolk VA, I was carrying concealed and got into a situation that started in a grocery store parking lot and ended on the side of the interstate with me dragging a guy out of a vehicle at gun point. As my wife and I walked out of the store we observed a woman screaming and a man smash and break the passengers window with her head. The details of what transpired aren't as important as what happened later. When I got back to the grocery store my wife is talking to the police that arrived. Come to find out it was a domestic dispute that had continued from earlier that day. What I didn't mention is that I was very fortunate to be one of six Marines to have trained with Col Jeff Cooper for two weeks earlier that summer. I firmly believe if I hadn't learned what I did from Col Cooper that I would have made a horrible mistake. To him mindset was more important than trigger time.

Fast forward...I don't believe my statement is questionable. My covid long haulers drove my decision to resign as a reserve police offer after 9 years. I got to know most of our departments officers very well. I was surprised to learn only a small percentage had fired their weapon in the line of duty. In fact the camera footages reviewed that I am aware of related mostly with Karens and driving behaviors of the officers.