Regarding taping over cameras, I think there may be tactical reasons for this. In the Las Vegas shooting, the shooter put wireless cameras in the hallways outside his room. He used those cameras to shoot through walls at officers moving down the hall towards his door. Reportedly, he had success putting suppressive fire through the walls, and was able to control that space. So I can see reasons for blocking cameras while people are exposed outside the door.
Body cameras are a different issue. No one in law enforcement should have a tactical gear loadout that does not include a body camera. It should be an automatic demotion or suspension if the camera is not worn and running during any operation that requires a tactical team. Note that I am not looking to demote or suspend officers, I just want to insure that body cameras become part of organizational culture.
Tactical reasons if they need to assault the house for a barricaded suspect who’s either holding hostages or is an immediate threat/danger to others.
But do you know what is a better tactic for a search warrant for a middle class white collar family man with no criminal record? Actually following the search warrant parameters and go during the daytime.. ideally in suits and knock on his door. Or go at any time when he’s known to be at work.
They chose the absolute worst “tactical” way to execute the search warrant. So it voids any defense of tactical reasons for taping the camera.