On the latest episode of Last Week Tonight, John Oliver examined the proliferation of police body cameras, describing them as 'the devices that give us a nipple's-eye view of law enforcement's interactions with the public'. He noted that while bodycams are often seen as a solution for transparency, their effectiveness depends on proper use, which is frequently lacking.
Oliver highlighted several limitations, including the fact that cameras can be muted, obscured, or turned off. He pointed to a clip of an Oklahoma police officer who was asked by a police captain to turn off his camera during a traffic stop. Some states mandate cameras off in certain situations, but critical incidents still go unrecorded.
Even when footage exists, it may not be reviewed. Oliver noted that Axon, the largest bodycam provider, stores over 100 petabytes of video, equivalent to more than 5,000 years of high-definition footage. 'It's impossible for agencies to look at every minute,' he said, 'but far too often, footage documenting misconduct isn't meaningfully reviewed.'
He cited the case of George Floyd: after his murder, a review of Minneapolis police footage revealed Derek Chauvin had previously knelt on the necks of other civilians, including a handcuffed Black woman and a 14-year-old Black boy. Supervisors had access to the recordings but cleared Chauvin's conduct. A state civil rights commission reviewed 700 hours of footage and found repeated use of neck restraints, concluding that a substantive audit could have stopped the pattern.
'Clearly, someone should have done that,' Oliver fumed. 'Because there's no point in the police just stacking up thousands of hours of footage that no one's ever going to see.' He argued that relying on leaks is not a system and called for meaningful review and accountability.
