After considering the information in this week’s instructor guidance and readings, I have selected the research topic:
The American public has been dealing with a lot of police brutality over the last two years. We have asked for body cameras to be mandatory for all police officers and even though a lot of cities and town don’t have them yet it has been some changes. Some people want them to show evidence of misconduct by police officers while others want it to protect those officers and then you have those that think it is violating privacy laws. My argument will be are body cameras working so far and are they the solution for the future. Does police officers wearing camera put at risk the privacy of the American public or does it expose
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One of the worst police brutality crimes is U.S. history
Misconduct- would the cams stop cops from doing wrong? Or will they find ways around it?
Admissibility-how much of the footages are allowed in court hearings?
Use of Force- the military has rules of engagement and use of force so why doesn’t the police community crack down harder on this?
With my argument and basic research plan in mind, my working thesis statement is:
There has been scrutiny from some but I think the requirement to wear body cams outweigh any other reasons to not wear them. The cams provide tons of things to include misconduct, are procedures being followed, their decision making, and tons of data for training cops on what to do and to not do while being assigned as a cop.
I have come up with this thesis by gathering information from online and what I have seen and read about over the years. Below are the areas used and addressed from the Thesis Checklist:
Addresses my selected topic clearly and specifically.
Articulates a persuasive argument, position, or claim.
Includes a premise (or premises) and a conclusion, and is logical and
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Accounts for or anticipates potential counter-arguments
After reading the course materials, I have questions about: Having completed research activities for school and professional projects, the provided materials offer very clear and concise direction and suggestions for completing the assignment. References
Drown, E., & Sole, K. (2013). Writing college research papers (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Garten, A., Hines, S., & Wilson, J. (2013). Thesis checklist [PDF]. College of Liberal Arts, Ashford University, San Diego, CA.
Morrell, C., Garten, A., Hines, S., & Wilson, J. (2014). Research paper guidelines [PDF]. College of Liberal Arts, Ashford University, San Diego, CA.
Nitty gritty: Generating keywords [Tutorial]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://bridgepoint.equella.ecollege.com/curriculum/file/a389008b-5a3f-4436-87d1-708d49f9f183/1/ENG122%20Nitty%20Gritty.zip/story.html
Quick ‘n’ dirty [Tutorial]. (n.d). Retrieved from https://bridgepoint.equella.ecollege.com/curriculum/file/e857a1f5-ed8b-4901-9b88-8b9e4d7652c7/1/Quick %27n%27 Dirty Ashford University Library %282%29.zip/Quick %27n%27 Dirty Ashford University
Due to devastating events that have occurred between policemen and civilians; law enforcements find it liable for police officers to be suited with body cameras. In doing so it is thought to bring an increase in trust in the community, reduce brutality and crime, as well as elucidate good cops still around.
Students with Readings. 7th Ed. Roger Davis, Laura K. Davis, Kay L. Stewart and Chris J. Bullock. Toronto: Pearson, 2013. 234-236. Print.
One of the sources used to disprove that body camera isn’t the answer includes Jamelle Bouie article, Keeping the Police honest. Mr. Bouie is the chief political correspondent at Slate who graduated from the University of Virginia with a political and social thought degree (Tumblr.com). His work consists of issues relating to national politics, public policies and racial inequality. His work has also been published in Slate online magazine, the New Yorker, the Washington Post and TIME Magazine (Tumblr.com). Slate is an online magazine that post about the news, politics, business, technology and culture (slate.com). In Jamelle article, Keeping the Police honest he talks about incidents where police officers were being recorded and took excessive
“A body-worn camera in public policing is a miniature audio and video recording device which allows recording of officers’ duties and citizen interaction,” notes Thomas K. Bud. Police body-cameras are significantly growing in popularity across Canada. While legislation has not confirmed definite rules regarding the use of body-cameras, local police departments have begun their implementation. Canadian police services involved in these projects include Toronto, Victoria, Edmonton, Calgary, and Amherstburg Police Services. The results of these projects have revealed mixed thoughts regarding body-camera effectiveness. Is it a good idea for police to wear body-cameras? While the cost of police wearing body cameras seems prohibitive, police wearing
If body cameras were required many police officers would be serving time in prison for some of their actions. A vast majority of the victims also would not have been harmed. Following a study done by Rialto, Calif. Police that ran from February 2012 to July 2013. A group of officers wore tiny video cameras while interacting with citizens. According to the New York Times, the video cameras resulted in a 60 percent drop in the use of force and an 88 percent drop in complaints against officers (Amalcar Scott, 2015, p.13). On a different randomized controlled trial, “nearly 1,000 officer shifts were randomized over a 12-month period of treatment and control conditions. During ‘‘treatment shifts’’ officers were required to wear and use body-worn-cameras when interacting with members of the public, while during ‘‘control shifts’’ officers were instructed not to carry or use the devices in any way. We observed the number of complaints, incidents of use-of-force, and the number of contacts between police officers and the public, in the years and months preceding the trial (in order to establish a baseline) and during the 12 months of the experiment” (Tabarrok,
There have been lots of modern technologies introduced in the United States of America to assist law enforcement agencies with crime prevention. But the use of body-worn cameras by police personnel brings about many unanswered questions and debate. Rising questions about the use of body cam are from concern citizens and law enforcement personnel. In this present day America, the use body cameras by all law enforcement personnel and agencies are one of the controversial topics being discussed on a daily base. Body worn cameras were adopted due to the alleged police brutality cases: for instance, the case of Michael Brown, an African-American who was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 2014, Eric Garner died as a result of being put in a chokehold by a New York police officer, and John Crawford, shot and killed by a police officer at a Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio.
In 2014, the New York Police Department announced that it would begin a pilot program to have its officers wear body cameras while on duty (Bruinius). However, the issue of privacy invasion and confidentiality of officers and the public has arisen. Though Body cameras on police officers could help in some scenarios such as random crimes, or police to citizen behavior, they also threaten privacy. Body mounted cameras are an invasion of privacy not only for the officers but also for the citizens involved. According to Freund Kelly, “Police officers often go inside businesses, private property and private homes as part of their duties. When police officers have a warrant, or believe there is an emergency,
Correctional officers spend a great amount of time with inmates behind prison walls, and work in close proximity with them as well. Correctional officers work in shifts and sometimes they pull a double to make some overtime money. Long hours spent in jail or prison facilities will create opportunities for some officers to make advances towards an inmate. Pollock (2014) states, “This familiarity with inmates sometimes tempts officers to engage in unethical behaviors such as sexual relationships (p. 194). It is up to correctional administrators to set the tone and exemplify good leadership and management skills that can instill good working ethics in the minds of young correction officers. Clear et al. (2013) believed in an innovative screening
Police officers with their body cameras: a history and back ground paper to answer the question if should all police officers wear body cameras, it is important to first look at the history and back ground of the topic. According to article of Journal of quantitative criminology, writers Ariel, Farrar, Sutherland, Body cameras have been given a new eye opener to people about the excessive use of force against their community members. Arial, Farrar, and Sutherland in the article state “The effect of police body warn cameras on use of force and citizens’ complaints against the police: A randomize controlled trial” describe their observation as:
Officers need sufficient training on the technology they are to use in their job, and policies regarding body cameras use within the police department need to be strong enough to guarantee their success. Across the United States police departments, the level of training and procedures in how to use body cameras vary from police station to police station. Due to this, it is hard to determine what the most effective way to use these cameras is. Those with weak policies are more likely to face legal issues such as the lawsuit in Round Lake. Without knowing how to operate the equipment properly and issues such as placement of the device the technology could become ineffective (Bakardjiev). By training officers to use the equipment properly police officers will be more familiar with it and be able to avoid issues in the equipment. At the forefront of the Round Lake issue, the invasion of privacy must be addressed. The reason cameras are not constantly filming officers is to build a positive work environment and foster trust (Bakardjiev). The ten officers in the lawsuit feel as if that trust was violated. The implications of the lawsuit are those who were in charge of training and ensuring the cameras were working as promised failed, and this has broken the trust of the officers
Huffington Post shared a study that was created by University of South Florida, which surveyed the Orlando Police Department’s pilot program. This survey was done at random, it picked 46 officers who were to wear the device and then the survey looked at 43 officers who did not wear the body cam.This is a common trend all across social media and news, that police “too often” abuse power. Though this isn’t a true statement because there are no statistics conclusive enough to prove this due to the government not collecting that data, which was said by the Free Thought Project (adweek). Police officers across the nation become sworn officers because they want to make a difference in their communities not break them apart and cause unrest. The disappointing part about all of these allegations against police are that the people see just a few crooked people who happen to be a police officer and the people are quick to judge the whole system and believe that all officers are bad even though the good officers far surpass the effects of the crooked ones. This describes how police are looked at and the statistic from Policeone.com offeres an insight into the protection offered by dashcams which would correlate to the body cams. “According to the responses of more than 3,000 officers completing the written survey,
The William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, Vol. 60, No. 3. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
Curriculum. Ed. Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. 10th ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2008.622-626. Print.
Kelly, William E., Kathryn E. Kelly, Robert C. Clanton. College Student Journal. Mar. 2008: 84-86.
Body cameras, in essence, have the ability to keep both police and citizens honest. This provides an indubitable opportunity for a judge to actually see and hear what actually happened at an incident, which could be different from what a police officer had transcribed in their report (Lou Ponsi, 2015). Interestingly, playback the video recording could essentially assist officers in more accurately filling out their reports. In fact, “the city of Fullerton, California allows their officers to view their videos to assist them in writing their police reports—except in situations involving in‐custody deaths, officer‐involved shootings, or incidents that involve a significant injury to a member of the public” (Lou Ponsi, 2015). With their reports being more accurate, it would become easier for departments to refute any false claims against