The Electronic Leash
Just in case the Digital-In Car Camera system and the upcoming body-worn cameras don’t capture your every move, there is another electronic device headed your way. It is called Telematics. This device will read the information in your vehicle’s electronic system, interpret it and make a record that can be retained and read by the Department. It has GPS capability that will track the location of the police vehicle. It will also record speed, brake action and the sway of the vehicle. In other words, the pursuit report is already mostly written by electronics. Where you were going, how fast you were going, when you turned your red lights on or off, your braking action, and the degree that your car leaned left or right when you went around corners will all be recorded.
Remember, this is the year of traffic enforcement. Because of the number of traffic accidents (or drop in the number of tickets written lately, depending on your degree of cynicism) the Department is focusing its efforts on traffic problems. One of these is the number of officer involved traffic collisions (TCs). You see it in the recent crackdown on seat belts and the grounding of officers who have been involved in TCs.
Telematics will be used to develop predictors for identifying aggressive driving patterns and behaviors that contribute to TCs. Once identified, these predictors will be used to formulate management policies to prevent officer-involved-TCs. It will also be used to provide reliable and accurate information to aid in crash investigations. The system also has the capability of sending email alerts. Hmm… how could this be used by the Department? This system is capable of sending an email to the watch commander when your seat belt is not buckled, or when your speed is above 50 mph in a 25 mph zone. Yes, it knows what the speed limit is on the street where the GPS system says your vehicle is traveling. It is a simple matter to program the system to send the email anytime your speed exceeds the posted speed limit by “x” miles per hour.
Eventually, the system will be able to show little red dots on a screen in the watch commander’s office showing the location of all the units in a division. You can count on management watching for red dots bunching up on the screen indicating coffee meetings among officers on the watch to exchange rumors and gossip while waiting for the next hotshot to come out.
That aside, the benefits to this system are obvious. Officer safety is number one. Every unit’s location is known in real time. The location of units putting out help calls will be instantly known and not dependent on a unit going Code-6 (still a problem when instant action requires officers to take action before going Code-6). Braking information will be used to update maintenance requirements to keep the vehicles safe.
Knowledge of unit locations will also allow communications to assign the closest car to an emergency request for services resulting in improved response times.
But hear some warning bells. The data will be kept for months, at least, if not years. The Department’s love of auditing will undoubtedly result in the comparison of Daily Field Activity Reports to GPS data. Attention to making detailed accurate logs will become even more important than it is now. Your route, stops and speed will be recoverable. Was your DFAR complete? Were each of your stops recorded in a line on your log? Are those instances when your speed exceeded the posted speed limit explainable? If you left your area or division, will your DFAR explain why?
Also, the system will be able to develop information that an officer does more harsh braking, ABS activation, harsh acceleration, traction control activation, and stability management intervention, than other officers. This will not be good and that officer can expect some supervision intervention into his or her driving habits.
More importantly, will any reports you write, or testimony you give, be backed up by all of the electronic data that is now being collected on your actions? This is probably the most serious problem that can hit you. If your report or testimony (usually months later), when matched up with the electronic data (video/audio/ GPS/Telematics) can be said to be different, the Department has the option to charge you with false and/or misleading statements. This is a Brady issue and immediately rises to the level of probable termination, and in some cases, has led to criminal charges being filed against an officer. Above all, this is the reason to make sure that everything you do is accurate. And the only way you can make sure that your reports or testimony is accurate is to review the electronic data before you write that report or testify. The Department will not always cooperate with you on this. When that happens, do not be afraid to say, “I don’t remember,” if that is the truth and you are not sure of something. Better to lose the case than become the case.
It is becoming more and more apparent that your every action is under the microscope. Lip service from the Department will always be that no one is perfect and that mistakes will be understood, but that cannot be counted on as a practical matter. The reality is that the thousands of rules, laws, and policies will be applied when the electronics show that they were violated. If you are not blamed by the Department, then you still may be by the plaintiff’s attorney, or the DA. You may be forgiven or you may be fired depending on the politics of the situation. Being perfect is the best defense. We are at the age of RoboCop.
Recognize that you are on an electronic leash as you move through your day, and behave accordingly. The Department expects you to follow the rules of the road and the rules of the LAPD manual at all times. Don’t let them turn a leash into a noose. If you can’t be perfect, at least belong to the League’s Legal Plan!
Be legally careful out there.
