Argumentative Essay: The Importance Of Body Cameras

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In a recent study from the NY Times, it was recorded that 71% of Americans truly trusted the police and the other 29% did not. Many say that their reason for distrust is a result of the recent unjustified killings committed by police officers in the past two years starting with the unjustified killing of Michael Brown in Missouri. Most past incidents have only been recorded by witness’s phones or police dash cams which can leave out crucial evidence needed for the justification of the killing. We as citizens need to require the police to wear body cameras when they are on duty to stop the unnecessary killing and wrongful convictions of innocent victims.
A body camera, for those who don’t know, is a tiny camera worn on the chest, shoulder or …show more content…

Not only can a judge and jury base their decision on dash cam footage and bystander videos, with the footage from a body camera they may can get multiple points of view from the crime to make a better decision on the verdict. In some cases the officer can be under fire for something he had a right to do and other cases are an innocent victim can be killed be a police officer for doing nothing wrong. These cameras can bring justice to an innocent officer or person killed in the past, present and future by opening these new perspectives to the court. Body cameras also provide police officers transparency and accountability, and can provide proof that their actions were necessary or not, but also affects the officer’s actions. In a recent study by Rialto Police Department for the New York Times, they found that “the department over all had an 88 percent decline in the number of complaints filed against officers, compared with the 12 months before the study, to 3 from 24. Rialto’s police officers also used force nearly 60 percent less often” (Stross). The cameras record everything done on duty and the police officers can’t over use their power like they used to and is lowering the unnecessary abuse and killing done by

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