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Essays about body-worn cameras
Essays about body-worn cameras
Essays about body-worn cameras
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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 …show more content…
Another, this device can serve as video evidence to prove who is right and who is at fault and also to show if the police used excessive force. On the contrary, many citizens believe the use of this device will invade their fourth amendment right, and it reads, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." Some questions that arise from the use of body cameras are, Is it reliable, Can the videos recordings be tampered with, the battery life, do officers have to operate it or it 's …show more content…
Lewinski says, on the off chance that you look far from where the camera is concentrating, you may not see activity inside of the camera outline that has all the earmarks of being happening 'just before your eyes. Another is “some important danger cues can’t be recorded” Tactical cues that are important to police officers in deciding whether to apply the use of force are difficult for the body cameras to capture. In an example given by Lewinski, Case in point, an assaultive subject who conveys his hands up might look to a civilian like he 's surrendering, however to you, taking into account past experience, that can be an exceptionally scary and contentious development, flagging his planning for a battling assault. The camera just catches the activity, not your
There are topics brought up about the incident in Ferguson and other police shootings that did or did not have body cams. There have been talks in communities about trying to reduce the police misconducts in the communities and the workplace. It is proven that officers who didn’t wear body cams had 2 times the illegal use of force incidents. This article will help me prove further that body cameras being worn will help reduce so many incidents, not saying all incidents
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
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:
“Keeping the videos hidden will only heighten mistrust and spur conspiracy theories about what they really show”. Law enforcement also have confidence in body cameras, diminishing police brutality and crime, by exposing all types of misconduct. They would minimize environments where victims feel powerless and belittled when up against an officer. “Body cams can not only record the entire context of a police encounter, but are invaluable in assessing the demeanor of victims, witnesses, and suspects,” said Smith. The cameras will help collect evidence of wrongdoers in any aspect.
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.
Should police officers be mandated to wear body cameras? That is a question that has grown to be widely discussed in media, politics, and the public. The death of Michael Brown due to a fatal shooting by a law enforcement officer inflamed the idea that police officers should wear body cameras (Griggs, Brandon). The opposing sides of such controversial questions both provide a strong reasonable argument that supports each side. However, despite the critiques against body cameras, I believe the evidence that supports the use of body cameras to be overwhelmingly positive and the intention is of pure deeds.
Not only will using body cameras decrease the number of civilian deaths, it will also allow better and faster punishment for both officers accused with violating the rights of an innocent civilians. These recorded videos will also help punish civilians accused of crimes caught on camera, due to the jury and judge 's ability to get visual first-hand evidence of the incident. According to Paul Marks, author of Police, Camera, Action, “Confronted with footage of their actions, defendants are pleading guilty earlier” (2). Also these cameras will be a deterrent as because these officers know they are being watched and will be more cautious about the amount of force used when subduing a suspect and in policing in general, because just like in normal situations people act differently if they know they are being recorded. Others may argue that because the cameras are recording people will be less likely to come forward with evidence. However, according to Kelly Freund, author of When Cameras Are Rolling: Privacy Implications of Body Mounted Cameras on
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
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
The Effects of Body Worn Cameras by Law Enforcement There has been a great deal of controversy over the recent police involved shootings, and whether or not law enforcement has used excessive force in some situations. With only the word of the police officer or those involved to go on, it can be very difficult to know exactly what took place. In some cases, there may be cell phone video available but a lot of times it is up to the person doing the recording’s discretion what parts they want to record and what parts they don’t. In this case, they would only show what would be beneficial to them and so the recording is then considered bias.
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? The body cameras help to regulate behavior of police officers. By having evidence of their day to day proclivities, offers have an incentive to behave a certain way when being 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. It seems that knowing with sufficient certainty that our behavior is being observed or judged 3 affects various social cognitive processes: We experience public self-awareness , become more prone to socially-acceptable-behavior and sense a heightened need to cooperate with rules”(Noam, paragraph 3). By enforcing body cameras on police officers, improper use of force and behavior can be altered to suit the needs of any given situation to the best of their abilities. (Expert Findings on Surveillance Cameras: What Criminologists and Others Studying Cameras Have
Thesis: By implementing Body cameras there will be more effective ways to monitor police activity the ability to protect civilians and law officials will greatly increase. Today I would like to share more with everyone the huge issue police brutality plays in our society and hopefully by the end of my speech you will want police officers to wear mandatory body cameras as well.
Incidents of police brutality, like those that occurred in Ferguson, MO, have increased the demand for body cameras by the public. With how new use of cameras into routine operations of law enforcement is, the issue of how they to use them and the policies that dictate that are still being developed (Nolin). Regarding the Round Lake officers, the variable of when the camera is filming is the key issue. There is controversy concerning policy procedures for when and how long a body camera should record. The two viewpoints of the issue are to either run the camera continuously or to use them on an as-needed basis (Bakardijiev). As mentioned early with Round Lake police officers, the cameras are only supposed to record during times the officers were working and shut off when they were not needed. Some, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, believe the cameras should record nonstop during the officers’ work day (Nolin). The belief is that the uninterrupted recordings will remove any bias the officers may have on when and where they record (Bakardjiev). However, the nonstop recording is what caused the breach in policy in the first place. It would also be impractical since the amount of time an officer spends interacting with the general public in their 8-hour shift amounts to 17% of their time
Since surveillance cameras have been invented for security reasons at shopping malls and stores they have also been place in public areas such as stoplights, parking lots, hallways, bus stops, and more.
Ever wonder why there is cameras attached to the top of stoplights? Cameras on stop lights are constitutional and extremely necessary.By knowing what they are, why it could be considered unconstitutional, and why it is constitutional one many understand why something like this is needed.