Owing to some extremely and rightfully controversial shootings of unarmed individuals over the past few years, more and more police departments around the country are employing the use of bodycams. Police are essentially always on camera this way, or at least their point of view is—they wear a device which records all of their interactions throughout the day. It provides an incontrovertible video record of everything they do, which can be used in a court of law should their actions ever turn tragic and/or be questioned. It also works as a kind of robot nanny—if police officers know they’re being taped, it most certainly affects their actions.
That’s all well and good, but remember how we said that those bodycams record everything. That means that along with all of the footage of traffic stops and such, police may also automatically and accidentally record some prime viral video content.
On December 29th, Brockport, New York, police responded to a call at a home to help catch a crazed squirrel that had found its way inside. (It must have been a slow day for the police.) Two officers, identified as Some and Dawson, entered the home and caught the squirrel in the middle of a criminal act: eating cookies that were not its own. Bodycam video was posted to the Brockport Police Department’s Facebook page.
While the squirrel did try to attack one of the officers and resisted “arrest,” police were able to nab the critter and release it back into the wild.