How common are such incidents of police use of force, both lethal and nonlethal, in the United States? In particular,police use of force has claimed the lives of many minorities, more often African Americans. Incidents like that of Eric Garner, teenager Michael Brown, 12 year old Tamir Rice, Walter L Scott, and Freddie Gray have led to the debate whether or not to adopt police body cameras. Not only do they offer transparency between the public and law enforcement, but law enforcement use of force has dramatically decreased since the adoption of body cameras. Many citizens and critics have argued that police body cameras violate privacy, and disapprove of the adoption of police body cameras. Though people say police cameras violate privacy, …show more content…
His beating was recorded and broadcasted across the nation. No later than three months, all white jury acquitted all officers, which sparked the riots in L.A in 1992. Later came Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Walter L Scott, and Freddie Gray. Those incidents have prompted the government to take action and promote the use of body cameras, which in some counties body cameras are already put to use. They have clearly made a difference in the small-scale time they have been practiced.
It 's not just about getting the abuse out there, or see who is telling lies, there is something more to all of this. Police body cameras will be beneficial in the sense that it will unite law enforcement and citizens, and serve as a way to build trust within our whole population. Law enforcement and citizens should have trust instead of hatred and resentment. Police body cameras will help us practice our socializing skills and force us to have to behave and act in a matter in which we would want to be viewed on cameras.
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However, not only will body cameras strengthen law enforcement 's performance, but it will improve evidence documentation for investigations and prosecutions. It will help solve many cases, there was a man in Washington D.C who claimed that his roommate and four others had assaulted him, but with the help of a police body camera it was concluded that when the police arrived, the so called victim never explained any of what he was saying in court, all he said was “they got into an argument” and “everything happened so quickly.” As a result, they were able to conclude that his roommate acted in self-defense and there were no others. With the help of a police body camera, they were able to solve that case and many others.
I feel body cameras will bring more awareness to police departments when it comes to the honesty in their staff’s action when they are unsupervised. They can be used as hard evidence in court rooms, to help make the correct judgment on the situations in question. A case of which Officer Michael Slager fell victim to when the courts later changed their verdict after being presented with a video of what really happened.
The Los Angeles riots kicked off on the twenty-ninth day of April 1992 following the acquitting of four officers who had beaten and injured a motorist in the previous year. In the year 1991, California Highway Patrol officers detected Rodney King speeding as he drove in Los Angeles. King then led the officers on a high speed chase for the fear that the court would revoke his probation for a robbery offense he had committed (Gray, 2014). He was caught and ordered out of his car surrounded by several L.A.P.D cars and this led to a struggle between him and the police officers with some of them thinking that he was resisting arrest. One sergeant, Stacey Koon, used a Taser gun to fire at him before they beat him with their buttons mercilessly. He was struck with police batons more than fifty times and suffered eleven fractures besides other injuries. George Holiday, who was a nearby resident, videotaped the ordeal and delivered it to a local television station the following day (CNN Library, 2014). The tape sparked tension between the black Americans and the whites. The blacks saw the beating as racial discrimination against their community. However, no violence was recorded from the blacks du...
This incident would have produced nothing more than another report for resisting arrest had a bystander, George Holliday, not videotaped the altercation. Holliday then released the footage to the media. LAPD Officers Lawrence Powell, Stacey Koon, Timothy Wind and Theodore Brisino were indicted and charged with assaulting King. Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg ordered a change of venue to suburban Simi Valley, which is a predominantly white suburb of Los Angeles. All officers were subsequently acquitted by a jury comprised of 10 whites, one Hispanic and one Asian, and the African American community responded in a manner far worse than the Watts Riots of 1965. ?While the King beating was tragic, it was just the trigger that released the rage of a community in economic strife and a police department in serious dec...
A way to deal with this problem seems to be body cameras. According to Jay Stanley, writer of “Police Body-Mounted Cameras: With Right Policies in Place, a Win For All” states that body cameras are “small, pager-sized cameras that clip on to an officer 's uniform or are worn as a headset, and record audio and video of the officer 's interactions with the public.”. However, having these new cameras come with privacy and money issues. With 25% of all agencies in the nation already using them and 80% looking into them (pg. 1). So, the two main issues with body cameras have to be addressed before moving
“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
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
When hearing the phrase “police brutality,” many people imagine batons cracking skulls, tasers electrocuting bodies and bullets penetrating innocent teens. While police officers have been known to use violence, police brutality does not occur as often as many believe. In many situations, officers have to act on impulse and curiosity, despite the backlash the media may create.
The intent of this study is to determine the effects between the independent variable of law enforcement professionals wearing body-cameras and the dependent variable of civilian’s willingness to talk to the police. The research questions that the data collected intends to answer are: Do civilians that come in contact with police deterred from talking to them about relevant information regarding a crime when there is a camera on the officer? What effects do police body-cameras have beyond accountability of law enforcement professionals? Will body-cameras damage communication between civilians and law enforcement that could result in a decrease in willingness to report crimes thus increasing crime itself?
Since their inception, police body cameras have been a controversial topic as many do not agree on their effectiveness and legality. To the trained eye, body cameras clearly have no negatives other than the sheer cost of their implementation. Some people, nonetheless, do believe that it is an encroachment of privacy for police to record private and/or public interactions even though it is purely legal. While that may be seen as a negative, it is wholly subjective and must be completely ignored when considering the factual analysis of police body camera use that is necessary to verify their validity. When only taking fact into account, there is no way to deny the nearly infinite benefits of body cameras.
Police officers should be required to wear body cameras because it will build a trust between law enforcement and the community, it will decrease the amount of complaints against police officers, and lastly it will decrease the amount of police abuse of authority. In addition, an officer is also more likely to behave in a more appropriate manner that follows standard operating procedures when encountering a civilian. “A 2013 report by the Department of Justice found that officers and civilians acted in a more positive manner when they were aware that a camera was present” (Griggs, Brandon). Critics claim that the use of body cameras is invasive of the officers and civilians privacy.
Do police officers really need body cameras is a question that has been repeated all throughout the nation. Body cameras are video recording systems that are used by law enforcement to record their interactions with the public and gather video evidence. Most police departments do not wear body cameras currently and the ones that do are in trial phases to see how it works out. There are many advantages to police officers wearing body cameras but in asking the question should they wear body cameras the stakeholders should look at the complete picture. One reason that police and body cameras have constantly been brought up lately are the instances of police brutality happening within the United States. Police brutality within the United States
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
Everyone is entitled to privacy when it comes to law enforcement. To make the public, and the officers protecting them, feel protected, the implementation of new technology in the police force has occurred. Sometimes, this equipment backfires and ends up doing more harm than the good that it promised. When this occurs, a revaluation of what is going on should happen to make sure improvements are made. As shown by the recent privacy violations to the Round Lake Police Department regarding body-worn-cameras, officers need to become more familiar with the technology they are using and stricter policies about their use are necessary to ensure the equipment is working properly.
Police officers would be wearier of how they interact with citizens as well as avoid us of foul language. A 2013 New York Times article written by executive director of Law Enforcement against prohibition, Neill Franklin explains how officers will be more accountable for their actions and put at the same standards as regular citizens (Franklin). Citizen behavior would also greatly improve because a trust in police would most likely follow and more likely to seek police assistance when needed. Implementing body cams would make citizens feel like police officers are just as responsible for their actions as they
Police brutality is an act that often goes unnoticed by the vast majority of white Americans. This is the intentional use of “excessive force by an authority figure, which oftentimes ends with bruises, broken bones, bloodshed, and sometimes even death” (Harmon). While law-abiding citizens worry about protecting themselves from criminals, it has now been revealed that they must also keep an eye on those who are supposed to protect and serve. According to the National Police Academy, in the past year, there have been over 7,000 reports of police misconduct; fatalities have been linked to more than 400 of these cases (Gul). Police brutality is often triggered by disrespect towards the police officer.