In recent years, police wearing body cameras has been gaining a lot of support and popularity. However, body cameras are more complex than most people realize. Cameras can be exceedingly expensive and raise privacy concerns for those being recorded. “But, the use of police body cameras is supported across political and racial demographics, as the following graphs (“Police Body Cameras.”).” There are countless cases of misconduct that have no evidence to prove someone guilty. If police officers were required to wear body cameras, it would help reduce the amount of police misconduct cases and could potentially establish justice for the victims. Although body cameras are beneficial to citizens and police officers and could be capable of eliminating …show more content…
This body camera study has become one of the most-cited. Fifty-four different “front-line officers” had to choose whether or not they wanted to wear a body camera while they were on duty. Out of 988 shifts, 489 were wearing body cameras and 499 were not (“Police Body Cameras.”). The officers who were not wearing cameras had two times more likely to apply force (AmersQuarterly.). The study revealed an 87.5 percent decline in complaints. Similarly, there was a decline of fifty-nine percent of force related incidents. The reduction in complaints will allow for fewer resources and time to be dedicated to investigations and settling civil litigation (Erstad). The encouraging results of body camera use have lead us to believe that the cameras will reduce the numbers of unnecessary force by police officers. The cameras will also be beneficial for the community as well (AmerQuarterly.). Body cameras have reduced the number of complaints in multiple departments. This also reduces the time it takes to investigating and addressing the issue (Erstad). Barack Obama has also requested for 50,000 cameras to be issued to officers (Davis). Obviously, the study shows a significant drop in complaints and use of force occurrences. As a result of the study in Rialto, California, it is proven that body cameras can improve encounters with police officers and
Police Body Cameras Due to devastating events that have occurred between policemen and civilians, law enforcements find it liable for police officers to be fitted 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. I feel body cameras will bring more awareness to police departments when it comes to the honesty in their staff’s actions when they are unsupervised. They can be used as hard evidence in courtrooms, to help make the correct judgment on the situation in question.
Have you ever heard of the idea of body-mounted cameras on police officers? If not, David Brooks will introduce you to the idea that was discussed in an article from New York Times called “The Lost Language of Privacy”. In this article, the author addressed both the positive and negative aspects of this topic but mostly concerned with privacy invasion for Americans. Although that is a valid concern but on a larger scale, he neglected to focus greatly on the significant benefits that we all desire.
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
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,
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
Any cop can tell you they have never had an incident where a person in their charge was hurt, but how can one know for sure whether or not the officer is telling the truth? Body cameras help to regulate the behavior of police officers. By having evidence of their day to day proclivities, offers have an incentive to behave a certain way when viewed. The camera acts as a psychological guide to help ensure the best performance and behavior from an officer. A case study was made to see how cameras affect the police officers psychologically which shows that, “People adhere to social norms and alter their behavior because of the awareness that someone else is watching.
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:
"What's the purpose of collecting the data?" he asked. "To move to accountability and get to the truth” (Williams 2015). This statement was made by the Seattle Police Chief who would also like to post all police body camera videos directly online. Although they tried to pass the bill, it did not go through for everything to be posted online and made public. Despite beliefs, body cameras do not have effect on police behavior due to the ability to shut off the cameras, making unlawful decisions, and brutalities for citizens and police.
Many numerous police officers have been given body cameras over the last few months. Due to this, there have been videos that were made public which caused an outcry throughout the country. With the increase in body cameras over the country, there has been many setbacks and potential benefits that
The recent coverage of police killings have raised many questions and concerns and created lots of debates on law enforcement agencies and the proposal for police body cameras. As technology is growing at a rapid pace, Public Safety Administrations are taking full advantage of the new emerging technologies and implementing them into their programs in order to promote safety throughout the communities. Many law enforcement agencies are taking a full advantage of the body worn camera program as it has already impacted many agencies throughout the Unites States. Body cameras without a doubt accumulate important proof of police wrongdoing, and in spite of the fact that exploration on the impacts of body cameras is similarly constrained there
Should Police Officers be Required to Wear Body Cameras? Body cameras are small, portable electronic devices that capture audio and/or video. Although they are relatively pretty small, their power is immense. There are times when a lack of body cameras can be a matter of life and death. Having a body camera present during an encounter or altercation can save someone’s life, and not having it can do quite the opposite.