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Should Police Officers Wear Body Cameras?
Due to the riot that happened in Ferguson, MO contemplating if officer Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown through self defense, police officers should wear body cameras because it provides more evidence, shows the actual situation at that particular time, the area of the officer to show it was safe, or prove not all cops are “crooks” or racist. Citizens disliking police officers has been going on for years. Many people don’t think about it everyday, but cops do save lives. People don’t know that they save lives because it’s not always on the news. If it is not on the news, you most likely will not know about it. Most people only hear the bad things about cops because of what they hear or see from videos on the internet. They have normal lives just like us, but wear a police officer uniform. So why do majority of people think they are racist because they arrest an african american? Statistically, African Americans are arrested more than the average white person. If you violate a U.S law, then you will have to pay a consequence. It doesn’t matter
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Another pro is accountability. Body cameras could prevent cases like Ferguson, or Baltimore where there is no way to know for sure what had actually happened (Baum). Wearing body cameras would hold police accountable for their appropriate/inappropriate conduct. A negative thing about body cameras is privacy and limitations. Do all defendants want their arrests to be recorded? Do all bystanders want to be in those videos when shown in court (Baum)? Its shown as an invasion of privacy. When turned on it will capture everyday civilian and police behavior that doesn’t necessarily need to be recorded. Limitation wise, many current policies encourage the cameras to be turned on only when police are among the
Based on my research I went from all for officers being forced to wear body cameras to being indecisive on which side is right. On the up side of officers wearing body camera, it could be a way the people can regain trust in the system, something that has decline over the years. The down side to that is that people right to privacy and figuring out the perfect way for the pubic to see what’s going on without seeing who is really involved. Another pro is that police officers will probably think before they react and being sure they are following all rules and regulation to ensure they are doing the job the way it’s supposed to be done. Then there is the issue with how to fund this project with the right man power and the money to be sure it’s done right. So, doing this assignment has open my eye to the pros and cons of forcing officer to wear body cameras and made me think about both sides with an unbiased
Police are supposed to maintain the law, but how can you differentiate a police officer from a criminal when they themselves are breaking the law and killing innocent people. Police are not just killing people randomly, they are targeting African Americans. African Americans die at the hands of police more than white which proves that U.S. policies are discriminatory. In “Chicago police shot and killed 70 people, most of them black, in five years period ending in 2014” (Peter Katel 2016). Additional African Americans death by police is not just criminal but also innocent and unarmed African Americans. According to the article, African Americans account for only 6 percent of the U.S. population. Africans Americans are a small group, therefore, Africans American death should be small, but statistics have proven otherwise. As noted in the article 40 percent – 37 percent of the 90 unarmed deaths by police are African Americas males. This statistics shows that the deaths of Africans Americans are less than whites but when you compare the population of Africans America against whites in the U.S. it proves that African Americans are dying faster than white. Additional that proves that police are killing African Americans more than
The researcher hypothesizes that the use of body-cameras on police officers would reduce the instances of gainful communication between civilians and law enforcement. The null-hypothesis is that the use of body-cameras on police officers will have no effect on gainful communication between civilian and law enforcement. In determining the implications of how body-cameras effects civilian behavior, the research will include a sampling survey of criminal justice students and information gathered from journal documents related to research on police body-cameras.
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.
Some of these individuals think everything will remain the same while others feel there are too many drawbacks associated with them. In “Body Cameras Will Not Stop Police Brutality”, Shahid buttar states that, “Police can do anything-even murder someone in broad daylight on videotape… and get away with it.” This statement is in acknowledgment of the Eric Garner case in which an African- American male get murdered in NYC using an illegal maneuver and the officers involved were not held accountable. Although this may be true as far as the legal aspect due to them having a video recording it brought the issue of police brutality to a national and even international spotlight. So yes the officer wasn’t convicted but this being caught on camera was beneficial in sparking the #blacklivesmatter movement which is seeking to prevent future incidents. Another claim that the opposition makes about why law enforcement shouldn’t wear body cameras is due to privacy concerns. Buttar declares, “…police body cameras also pose a massive risk to privacy and support mass incarceration.” This statements stems from the fact that the body cameras are on the public and not the officers. Most people don’t care about a so -called lack of privacy if it’s for their safety so that claim is not credible. Also, the body cameras should only be used for
Within recent years there has been much controversy encompassing police officers and regardless of whether they ought to wear body cameras to document all their daily activities. While the utilization of body cameras may appear to invade the public or police privacy, police should wear body cameras. By wearing body cameras, they could enhance people's perspective of police by demonstrating their compassion, protect the public from police misconduct and protect law enforcement from dealing with false allegations that can discredit their reputation. Additionally, it can help to provide evidence when individuals may not be able to, which are all vital parts of policing. Police body cameras are an indispensable device for cops and our communities
According to the Office of Justice Program about 32 percent of local police has already started to use body cameras on at least some of their officers. Although everyday we see more and more departments implementing cameras as part of daily patrol because of the very many advantages of this tool, there a few concerns about the use of body worn cameras.
One of the many drawbacks that come with using body cameras is due to the fact that there is a locus of control. This may pose a problem because there is an underlying question of who can control the cameras. There can be many videos of incidents that are not captured because an officer decided to turn off their camera. Officers have the ability to turn them off or on which causes the problem of each officer not releasing them. Many departments across the country does not even allow individuals to access the footage that is recorded and with the laws that are in place for many department to deny access to the footage that they have. Due to each officer having to release the footage that they capture, they are allowed to review the footage that they record before they make a statement (Harvard Law Review). This is one of the biggest drawbacks because controlling the video footage is important in not only courts but to ensure the minds of
Officers wearing body cameras has created a huge controversy, but why? Body cameras cause many concerns. Body cameras have shown to be a great way to reduce officer misconduct and improve civilian behavior. Others believe that officers should not wear body cameras because it creates issues regarding the privacy of citizens. However people like, Nick Wing and Ben Bolton believe that officers should wear body cameras because it has shown to improve civilian and officer behavior. Although, citizens are being recorded without consent, it is important to understand that body cameras have shown a decline in civilian complaints against the officer, a decline
Police officers should always be equipped with body cameras. Body cameras on police officers should be enforced because it will lead investigators to the truth, civilian complaints will fall dramatically, and there would be less violence.
(Wendell Gillard) Body cameras play a big role in today recent incidents. “I was scared to death. The last thought I had go through my mind when I pulled the trigger, and I'll never forget this … was that I was too late. I was too late. And because of that, I was going to get killed. Worse, my (partner) was going to get killed” said Officer Brian Cruz (KSl.com) This beloved incident happened in our beloved Utah. This incident happened in Utah right outside of the 7/11. The officer (Brian Cruz) asked a few men to put their hands up in their because of believed weapon possession. The two men that were their put their hands up in the air but one just walked away from the officer. The officer asked the guy many times to get his hands up the guy would not. Officer reacted quickly to the guy and shot him. Luckily this whole incident was recorded on his body camera. His body camera was used when the guy family tried to sue the police force. With this hard video tape evidence the officer did not try guilty and it was proven to do it for the safety of him and others. Another incident this January happened where a car was overturned and fell into a river. This crash was unnoticed until a local fisherman 24hours later noticed the car. This local fisherman called the police to tell them about the car. When the police came the discovered a baby in it and a mother. They knew the mother was dead, but the baby was alive and crying. The police man were rushed once figuring out the baby was alive. After 5 minutes of pushing the police man were able to grab the baby and run to the ambulance. This story became a miracle to everybody around the world. People started calling the baby miracle baby. Luckily the police men were wearing body cameras to film what had happened. With this body camera people were able to know the whole story of the baby Lilly. The public through the camera was able to
There is an article by Emma Brown titled “Police in Schools: Keeping kids safe, or arresting them for no reason?” and in the article she questions their positions in schools. She states that after an incident occurred at Spring Valley High in South Carolina, it prompts the exploration of school resource officers as well as police officers should be allowed in schools. After reading the article by Brown, schools should have SRO’s in public schools.
Police brutality and racism has been in our country for hundreds of years. African Americans across America are viewed as what a typical criminal looks like. Black males have been shot and killed by white police officers and those
There are some major upsides in having cameras in public places. In early 2013 two people set off bombs at the Boston marathon, which killed several people and injured hundreds. The city of Boston had cameras monitoring the streets, and was able to identify the bombers within two days. (La Vigne, Nancy) The FBI was able to catch them before they were able to carry out another planned attack in Times Square, which could have been much, more devastating. In addition to being able to solve crimes that have already happened by using cameras, we are also able to use them and the other technologies that go with it to prevent crime. The National Security Agency has reported that it has prevented several terrorist attacks since 2001 using new technology put in place to prevent the attacks. However, much of the NSA’s tactics have been criticized lately, though the majority of people still agree that it is worth it. Using cameras is also a cheap way to monitor an area. Having to employ several police officers to patrol an area can be expensive and those officers could be out doing more important jobs. When you have cam...