After the shooting the officers' cameras were confiscated, and Chief Gomez said the footage would be reviewed.
(Both officers' cameras were reportedly dislodged during their struggle with Sterling, and a police spokesman said at a news conference that the "footage may not be as good as we hoped for").
With multiple officers' cameras recording portions of the shooting, public opinion could be greatly influenced by which version is released.
Besides, we know that, by way of example, cops in Albequerque, New Mexico, went ahead and killed a mentally ill homeless man on tape last year despite the officers' cameras.
Butler, who said he has been a shift commander on and off for the past 15 years, added, "You have to use whatever tools you have — whether it be bike officers, cameras, foot officers, whatever you have — to abate that problem.
Rialto has become the poster city for this high-tech measure intended to police the police since a federal judge last week applauded its officer camera program in the ruling that declared New York's stop-and-frisk program unconstitutional.
Thus far, though, almost every department has handled officer cameras differently.
At up to $900 per camera, the cost of phasing in officer cameras in major cities promises to be immense.
I've heard from long-haul truckers worried about their drivers' licenses, and from traffic engineers and police officers disputing camera industry claims about safety.
A sprawling picket of supporters wound its way around morning commuters, police officers, TV camera crews and photographers, chanting, "Protect our law, protect our care".
