FBI Director: viral videos make cops afraid to do their jobs / Boing Boing

FBI Director: viral videos make cops afraid to do their jobs / Boing Boing – Also dissenting from Comey’s position is the National Fraternal Order of Police, which represents 330,000 rank and file police officers. The group’s executive director, James O Pasco Jr, dismissed Comey, saying, “He ought to stick to what he knows,” and “He’s basically saying that police officers are afraid to do their jobs with absolutely no proof.”

Asked about his past views on the “Ferguson effect” as a possible explanation, Mr. Comey said he rejected that particular term, but added that he continued to hear from police officials in private conversations that “lots and lots of police officers” are pulling back from aggressive confrontations with the public because of viral videos.

He said that the phenomenon “could well be an important factor in this.”

F.B.I. Director Says ‘Viral Video Effect’ Blunts Police Work [Eric Lichtblau/NYT]