Police body cameras are exposing bad cops

Police body cams are turning out to be a wonderful thing.

Am I right, Westborough Police Chief “Tito” Todd Minardi (rhymes with Bacardi)?

The chief would probably disagree, but what’s the problem? I’m sure his pension is already in the works — disability perhaps, or will it be yet another BRAVE Act plea bargain?

Whatever, either 80 or 72 percent of $215,545 a year for life at age 54 is one sweet deal, especially when a 750 ml. bottle of Tito’s Handmade Vodka is only $14.99 at Total Wine.

And despite the chief’s Halloween humiliation, isn’t it a positive development that the public is learning a lot more about what goes on when a police car, especially an unmarked cruiser with “ghost” license plates, is pulled over?

"And despite the chief’s Halloween humiliation, isn’t it a positive development that the public is learning a lot more about what goes on when a police car, especially an unmarked cruiser with “ghost” license plates, is pulled over?."

The liberals told us that police body cams would expose the brutality of law enforcement. Perhaps they have, in a handful of cases.

But what body cams seem to be revealing more of is the culture of rampant drunkenness and substance abuse, not just among cops but also among the larger Democrat political class in Massachusetts.

And it’s harder for the hacks to cover up their abominable behavior now, especially the racial slurs. How about the POC Holyoke city councilortossing around the n-word in the back of a State Police cruiser?

Or Mayor Michelle Wu’s two City Hall hacks (newcomers to both our country and our hemisphere) in a drunken affray in Chinatown, and the woman supposedly yelling racial slurs at the female Hispanic police officer?

If those two incidents hadn’t been recorded on body or cruiser cam, would the Democrats have ever permitted the humiliation of their loyal English-as-a-second-language foot soldiers?

Not to mention the state Democrat party chairman’s recent stop (although he was at least civil to the cops).

When Chief Bacardi’s two-day sojourn in the parking lot of Star Liquors was revealed, 41 different parties requested the footage from the Shrewsbury Police Department — 41!

The cops released 50 minutes of video, somewhat redacted. It wasn’t easy to download, but it could be done. I posted five minutes of Chief Bacardi’s Greatest Hits across my social-media platforms, and got about a million clicks in 48 hours.

I’m sure everybody else did just as well.

In the old days, chances are that what happened in Shrewsbury would have stayed in Shrewsbury. Everything that involved cops or pols and bad ice cubes got swept under the rug.

That’s not to say it can’t still be done, or at least attempted. Last Monday morning, I put in a public-records request to the Boston PD for the report on the latest arrest of a “heavily intoxicated” state trooper, Michael McGuire.

Within 10 minutes, I got back a pro forma denial, on the grounds of domestic abuse. No surprise — when it comes to transparency, Mayor Michelle Wu has rebuilt the Great Wall of China higher than ever around One Schroeder Plaza.

Boston isn’t the only cop-shop still observing the old rules of omerta. A department south of the city has been wrestling with a big crash in late September involving two out-of-town female officers in an unmarked cruiser.

The two local cops answering the call wanted to give the accident a traditional good leaving alone — professional courtesy. But word leaked out. It’s a mess, for both departments, and if anyone in Plymouth or Barnstable wants to spill the beans, please let me know.

The thing is, before the cameras, all these OUI’s were just cop variations on the old he said-she said. If they lied and covered it up in their reports, what could anybody do?

The fix was in.

But if you have body cams – well, there are ways around them too, or so I’m told. Cross your arms in front of your chest to block the view. You forgot to turn it on. Or claim there was a “malfunction.”

But it’s tougher. Cops gossip even more than most people. Police snitches get riches — if they can take out a rival for promotion. It’s a lot easier to make detective if the guy ahead of you gets taken off the board.

One amusing part of this brave new world is how quickly cops now call for back up when they realize they’ve lugged a drunk cop, especially if the drunkard is a superior officer.

Here’s the Shrewsbury PD report on Chief Bacardi from Lt. Kevin Caviston as he gets the bad news from his patrolman: “(He) stated to me that it’s Chief of Police for Westborough and he was hammered drunk.”

Lt. Caviston knew exactly what to do: “I called Lt. Cameron who was working to give him a heads up.”

Same thing in Boston last weekend when the first responding cops found Trooper McGuire non compos mentis in his ex-girlfriend’s bed in the South End.

“Officers became aware that the suspect is an active Massachusetts State Trooper and immediately requested the patrol supervisor report to the scene… (He) arrived.”

Here’s another drunk state trooper report I haven’t even gotten around to yet, but it’s the same routine.

They’re in Middleboro, taking their fellow trooper to the hospital (always the best way to go, to kill some time, burn off a little of the booze and maybe the hospital will neglect to do the BAC test). It works sometimes, even if it didn’t for Trooper Quigley in Woburn.

Back to this MSP OUI from last year:

“While en route, I was advised that Lt. Gifford was going to meet me at Morton Hospital and that he was going to assume the investigation.”

It’s called CYA — Cover Your Ass.

Keep those calls and tips coming in. I love this brave new world of police body cams. When it comes to getting video of drunk cops and politicians, I feel the same way Chief Bacardi kept telling the cops that he was feeling.

“I’m good… I’m good… I’m good.”