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Charges in Castile shooting

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi stood at the podium Wednesday and announced that St. Anthony Police officer Jeronimo Yanez would face three counts, including second degree manslaughter, in the July 6 shooting of Philando Castile in Falcon Heights.

It was the first time in 16 years, after more than 150 officer-involved deaths, that a Minnesota prosecutor filed charges against a police officer involved in a shooting.

What was different in this case from all the others? Choi had more evidence than in most of the past cases, in the form of the squad car’s dashboard camera, including the audio recording of what was said during the brief incident. Choi said the recordings showed Castile was respectful and compliant to the officer’s orders, and never exhibited criminal intent. It was all there, caught on tape.

Such is the power of recording technology, and not just the ubiquitous smart phone cameras that more people are pulling out at police confrontations, like the one Castile’s girlfriend used to live-stream the aftermath of the shooting on Facebook. Squad car cameras and police body cameras go a long way toward providing documentation in tough situations. They can corroborate what police say happen, or confirm when they do wrong.

The technology is not perfect. It won’t see everything and hear everything, but it will see and hear a lot. More and more police departments are equipping their officers with body cameras, which will go a long way to rebuild trust in community policing where it has been broken.

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