Off-the-Farm Transparency

The promotion of transparency is a rather general issue, not one that is relegated to the animal farming industry alone. Policing and the justice system writ large are areas where there have been significant reforms in the direction of transparency in recent years. Something on the order of half of the law enforcement agencies in the US, it seems, have adopted police body camera requirements, and such cameras typically are supported by the police and by the public. (Where cameras are not required, it often is the cost -- much of which derives from the need for data storage -- that presents the major barrier.) Police interrogations now are filmed in 26 states. So in the last decade, we have witnessed a major increase in transparency in the justice system, and one that seems poised to continue. Federal and state grants, for instance, are available for easing the adoption of police body cameras, and similar types of subsidies are available for recording interrogations. It is nice to see the government promoting transparency instead of impeding it.