As you may remember, Lloyd Fields is the encarcerated prisoner and family friend of David Bowman whom then Chief Bowman escorted out of jail in 2003.  This "faked furlough affair" was the beginning of the years long legal adventure that Mr. Bowman endured at the hands of the Bergen County Prosecutor's office.

It is now 2008 and Mr. Fields is again in the news.  This time, he is facing felony charges stemming from the latest in "…a long line of run-ins with the police" ( p.3, Suburbanite, 1/9/08).  To make things predictably complicated, Mr. Fields is now claiming that what occurred was a police assault on him, not his assault on police.  

Whatever the outcome of the new Fields controversy, we will say this: isn't it time for our police department to have patrol cars with video recording equipment?  At just $1500 per patrol car, the avoidance of expensive lawsuits and civic distrust would certainly be worth this modest investment.