Page 6 - February 2018 FOP Newsletter

GRAHAM CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5
using a camera with film, and the image that the camera looked at was transposed onto a negative and then printed. That printed photo is exactly what was in view of the cam- era lens.
Today, we have body cameras, and we blindly think that the images that are being portrayed are like a camera with film: an exact picture. This is not accurate. Many of the vid- eos that we are looking at today are not accurate depictions of what we are seeing. They are, in fact, computer-gener- ated renderings of what the camera “thinks” it sees, and the computer recreates what it believes to be in front of the camera. This means that many of the images are actually renderings of what the body camera believes should be in the computer-generated picture.
The programs for these computers were coded in oth- er countries by graduate students years ago. It is certainly not their intention to deceive anyone, but simply a glitch in their programming when applied to daily policing. The program is coded to remove things that are not recognized, or it does not believe should be there, and inputs elements it believes should be there. This would explain the many differences between what our officers say has happened, as opposed to what the body camera shows.
This is a huge problem that must be overcome. One of the ways we can improve the situation is to accurately look at an investigation based on good police work, rather than on video from a dashboard camera or body camera. An of- ficer’s version of what occurred may be exactly what hap- pened, even though the video may not concur. I am told
this occurs with software that is written in China but can be used on all cameras with other software that is written in the U.S.
This brings me to the final topic: COPA. As I write this arti- cle, we have not yet received all the documents that should have been given to us when we filed an FOIA with COPA. It is quite clear that COPA has hired a third party that is in- volved in the investigation of a 2015 fatal police shooting, which could account for why the documents have not been released to us. The findings of that third party have not yet been provided to the FOP or, to our knowledge, the Depart- ment or the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office. It would seem to me that if the investigation supported the belief that COPA finds that the shooting the officer was involved in was a “bad shooting,” the findings would be included in the report for everyone to see. It is also my suspicion that the report is more likely favorable and supportive to the of- ficer’s position and may help clear the officer.
Instead, COPA has stated that it has attorney-client priv- ilege with regard to those documents. So, I wonder: Is this the only time COPA has hired an outside law firm or entity to conduct an investigation and is not sharing the findings with Chicago Lodge 7, the Department or the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office? At the very least, this COPA inves- tigation is rife with unanswered questions that desperately need to be answered.
I have requested an investigation and have requested all secret files to be released to Lodge 7, the Department or the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office. I have also requested the name(s) of the person or people responsible for this.d
6 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ FEBRUARY 2018