Tampa Police Department released a compilation of body cam footage showing a more ordinary, but perhaps more authentic picture of their daily work.
Having “The video you won’t see on the evening news” in the title, the video shows people laughing and cursing at the officers, even using their uniform as an ashtray. “Could you not put your ashes of your cigarette on me, please,” the officer responds.
But it also shows the officers helping people in all kinds of need and people being thankful for their service. “This Is Why Police Officers Come To Work Every Day,” the video caption reads.
“When you see body camera video on the news, it is typically a tragic incident. But those are isolated, RARE incidents that don’t really capture the majority of officers and what we deal with on a daily basis,” reads the Facebook post accompanying the video on the department’s official account. “As police officers, we see people at their best, but more often, at their worst. This is the community’s first look at what a police officer’s job is really like—it’s kind of like riding shotgun with an officer.”
