Police Body Cameras
Police brutality happens against all races, but is even more frequent in minority communities. There are ways to prevent this personally, like not doing things to get the police's attention. Those might not all work though the best thing we can do is make the brutality is seen in court, one of the best ways to do this is for police to wear body cameras. This will monitor them the entire time they are on patrol through every encounter with anyone from them helping a little kid crossing the street to a major drug bust.
First, there are concerns for some cities because of cost and effectiveness. Yes this program does cost 5.1million dollars, but that helps researchers make the decision if it actually makes the police officer
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act differently since they would be getting monitored the entire time the officer is on duty ("Police Officers with Body Cameras"). Then there was research that said that police officers are more likely to use force if they are wearing a body camera than the officers without the body cameras ("Police Officers with Body Cameras"). There was also a few more complaints filed against the officers that wear the body cameras ("Police Officers with Body Cameras"). The researchers also stated that the research is statistically insignificant ("Police Officers with Body Cameras"), meaning that the complaints against officers hasn’t made any major changes. Even though the citizen complaints against the police officers hasn’t gone down by a lot the body cameras has provided very hard evidence in court showing the situation and eliminating a lot of the grey area of the he said she said. When police officers know what they can do without getting charged with police brutality and police body cameras would keep them from crossing the line, but would also protect them in court from someone who is trying to make a situation sound worse than it was.
This also protects the officer from murder charges when he shoots someone who tried to attack them. These cameras have complete transparency, allowing you to see the complete situation on what happens between the officer and the citizen ("Should Police Officers"). The camera's allow you to listen to the police radios and also picks up the audio of the citizen and the police officer in the situation. Making the evidence that the video has very hard evidence that is extremely hard to disprove in court ("Should Police Officers"). Which means they disclaims all accusations that are made against a police officer ("Should Police Officers"). This camera also isn’t big or bulky. The camera is about the size of a deck of cards and is extremely portable plus is worn the entire time is on duty, by clipping the body camera to just about any of the police officers clothing ("Should Police …show more content…
Officers"). Putting body cameras on the police would strengthen the relations with the public since the it should make the public feel more like they can’t do whatever they want because they are the law. With these strengthened relations the people will not fear the police officers, but will be nicer, more cooperative and possible even more helpful in situation. When they need information about a local that they don’t know. The only real downside to this that I see is that you will have a little less privacy when there is a police officer present, which if your not doing anything wrong. What do you have to worry about because the police officer’s body camera footage is private to the agency and is not a public record. This body camera that the police wear everytime there out and about on duty actually makes people act differently toward the police.
A man researching these encounters by the name of Tobin said “It seems that the body camera isn’t just making some of the officers act different it is also making the normal everyday people that police encounter act more formal and professional” this makes the police officers job easier and a little less stressful (“Police Officers with Body Cameras”). There was another researcher that said that these police agencies should not expect huge dramatic changes in the accusations (“Police Officers with Body Cameras”). I believe we won’t see these dramatic until we have people change their morals because some of the people out there just think that the police are out to get them even though they are breaking the law and on the other side of that, there are a few police officers that have it out for the minorities or different races, so the brutality or the false accusations won’t slow down or stop until we as a community change our morals. “Even if things don’t change, could be a good thing,” said Sgt. Matthew Mahl, “meaning that would prove that they are doing everything right from the beginning.”
In just the recent years there have been multiple accounts where the police got accused of using excessive or shooting unarmed people. Like in this one court case there was a police officer shows up a domestic dispute and the cop ended up shooting the male
in the dispute. The officer was accused was under trial for shooting an unarmed man, but his body camera saved him in court proving undoubtable evidence that the man he shot had a knife and If it wasn’t for the camera the officer would of most likely lost his job and could have possibly went to jail for murder ("Police Officers with Body Cameras"). Now it is still good to know that there are still flaws with the body cameras. Like they can be manually turned off so if an officer was really that evil he could shut off the camera, but that still makes the officer look suspicious if the camera is off at a conflict with a suspect. In this one instance an officer shot a motorcyclist at a traffic stop. The officer did not turn on his body camera and is now being prosecuted in court and will most likely get heavy fines and probably some pretty heavy prison time. The Police station where he was employed is also getting sued for a lot of money for the instenant with the officer. There was also another officer that didn’t shut off his body camera before he went to plant evidence on a black male that was under watch by the police officer. The police officer and his entire squad is under investigation and getting charged with planting evidence. The stats on PoliceMisconduct.com so that the number of complaints is on a natural decline to the number of the reported use-of-for by the officers, but the body cameras may have helped speed this up a little bit. They also said they had a conference with 30 of the major police agencies have attended this conference about confidentiality except only 5 of the 30 agencies said they have protocall for the privacy on the body camera footage. There have been many suggestions for a the policy of privacy by other departments and nonprofit organizations, but none of them fit the with the agencies. In total it seems that both major political parties support the police body cameras.but out of all these the republicans are the least supportive like you see in the picture, but that is because it takes away a very small portion of your right to privacy. Which I think is a very small price to pay to clarify everything in court if you get in trouble with court. For the most part everyone is for the most part agreeing including the two parties who never get along on any of the conflicts with law and order. Police officers should wear cameras because all the news can talk about is how people are saying that they are innocent and the police were in the wrong. If they wore cameras they would know who is actually really in the wrong and who is lying. Providing an undoubtable evidence that is almost impossible to disprove in court. Over one thousand shifts are monitored a day and they haven’t really noticed a difference in the behavior of the police officers in almost all of them. Except the instances the few officers that got brought to court the evidence gained was very useful. Now there are still people and even officers that are skeptical if the cameras will even make an impact at all. From the hard evidence in court and the fact that it is a way to monitor “the law” makes these cameras the seemingly perfect solution to the problem of police brutality and false accusations made against police officers. Protecting the people a little more and giving the good police officers a little more job security.
There have been a number of officers who have been accused and convicted of using excessive force. In one case in a maximum security prison in New York there were two correction officers that were caught on video hitting an inmate that was handcuffed behind the back. According to the video it did not appear that the inmate provoked the assault in anyway. Both officers that were involved in the assault were later fired by the prison and they were found guilty of a civil rights violation.
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:
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.
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.
This little camera doesn’t have but one job and that is to record the story. “Advantages of police body cameras..” article talks about the pro and cons of such camera on the officers while on shift. The camera is there to help give an unbiased account of what happen. When you know you are being recorded, then you naturally act a little better because you know someone is watching you not so impulsive. There is a statement “A study performed by the Rialto, CA police department found that the cameras led to an 87.5 percent decrease in officer complaints as well as a 59 percent reduction in use of force over the course of a year—and they’re not the only departments seeing positive results.” “This drop in complaints can also lead to a substantial decrease in the time and resources devoted to investigating complaints and resolving civil litigation.” .The two cons I keep seeing against using cameras is the initial cost to issue one out to all law enforcement and the upkeep cost required by them. Additional is a privacy issue with what is recorded on them. These successes number out weight the cons specifically dealing with the public
Police brutality and racial profiling dates back to the 1700’s in the United States(Rushing). Unfortunately, such treatment by police continues today when police are expected to hold the civic duty to protect and serve. Mistreatment by police is just the start in most cases, when citizens fight back it becomes “brutal”. Police brutality by definition means “The use of any force exceeding that reasonably to accomplish a lawful police purpose.” Police brutality can occur in many different ways with the most common being physical harm. Although that is a big problem, there are other cases of Police brutality that involve acts of false arrest, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, intimidation, etc. An act that can be seen as police brutality could be a criminal running from the cops and an officer shoots a victim with a taser. Many cases of physical harm are police using excessive force to contain and arrest any individual. Since many accounts of police brutality have been directed towards minorities, these cases turn into acts of racial profiling. Racial profiling is the use of race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone of having committed an offense. Let 's say for example Trayvon Martin, a simple 17 year old black male walking home from a gas station was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch member. This being one of the many
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
The important thing to do is to understand the circumstances when excessive force can be used and times where the use of force has to be abstained. Police officers follow strict guidelines on how to handle encounters from escalating into something much more serious. The use of excessive force, in this case police brutality, brings liabilities that cannot be taken lightly with the department and the community. Usually, the high crime rates tend to revolve around low-income minority areas and officers tend to assume that minorities living in the areas are guilty. Police brutality that does exist is most likely a result of emotional exhaustion.
Police brutality is a negative thing to think about everyday about the men and wemon that are supposed to protect and serve they swore to protect and make sure all of the laws are being followed in the past, present, and future. There isn’t anything you can do to stop the bad police officers to protect yourself other then the law that you have to fight to bring justice to the court. The youngest person that has experienced police brutality and lost their life was a 12 year old and the oldest was 65, but more than 100 victims were unknown.
Police brutality has become one of the hot topics within the media within the past few years. It’s always been around but its being discussed and speculated now more than ever, because of technology like cell phones, people are able to record what is happening, which furthers the attention of the police’s over excessive force within their communities. Still even with cellphone footage of cops killing these innocent people, they get acquitted and get put on leave from their job with pay until all of it blows over and they begin working again. Some cops believe that because they’re hiding behind a badge, they get a pass at murdering people and call it self-defense and refuse to take responsibility for their actions, which is a technique of neutralization. Minorities, especially African-Americans suffer many injustices from law enforcement especially in terms of being killed, brutalized, and longer jail sentences
On August 09, 2014 an incident involving an 18 year old named Michael Brown and Police Officer Darren Wilson sparked an immediate demand for police across the nation to be mandated to wear police body cameras. This incident between these two was also immediately politicalized, racialized, and seemed to galvanize the public’s opinion that police in general were racist, corrupt and untrustworthy.
Chaney and Robertson, (2013) stated that “The Department of Justice office of Civil Rights has investigated more than a dozen police departments in major cities across the country on allegations of racial discrimination or police brutality”. Police brutality is defined as the use of excessive physical force or verbal assault and psychological intimidation. White police officers who grew up in the south and were raised to see African Americans in a negative way have a lower opinion of them. However, not all white police officers are from the south, some say that police officers are just abusing their power. When we look at what is going on around the country, it appears racism plays a part in police brutality. Even during this new digital age, there are video cameras in police cars facing the front of the vehicle, but that still does not hinder police using excessive
Police brutality is one of the most serious human rights violations in the United States and it occurs everywhere. The reason why I chose this topic is because police brutality happens all the time in the United States and still remains unrecognized by many. Additionally, the public should be knowledgeable about this topic because of how serious this crime can be and the serious outcomes that police brutality can have on other police officers and the public. The job of police officers is to maintain public order, prevent, and detect crimes. They are involved in very dangerous and stressful occupations that can involve violent situations that must be stopped and controlled by any means. In many confrontations with people, police may find it necessary to use excessive force to take control of a certain situation. Sometimes this makes an officer fight with a suspect who resists being arrested. Not all cops in communities are great cops. At least once a year, the news covers a story about a person being beat by an officer. The article “Minority Threat and Police Brutality: Determinants of Civil Rights Criminal Complaints in U.S. Municipalities” by Malcolm D. Holmes from the University of Wyoming, uses the conflict theory to explain why officers go after minorities sometimes causing police brutality. It explains the police’s tension with African American and Latino males. Those minorities are the ones that retaliate more against police officers which causes the officer to use violent force to defend themselves.
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.