Police Body Cameras
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.
I feel body cameras will bring more awareness to police departments when it comes to the honesty in their staff’s action when they are unsupervised. They can be used as hard evidence in court rooms, to help make the correct judgment on the situations in question. A case of which Officer Michael Slager fell victim to when the courts later changed their verdict after being presented with a video of what really happened.
“… if not for bystander Feidin Santana’s video casting doubt on office Michael Slagers version of events, he may not have quickly been charged with murder…” Imagine if this man would have been set free only to think getting away with murder is easy. Seeming that a person is an employee of the law, jurors’ do not expect them to lie. All they need to say is that they felt in danger or claim they were put in a tough situation. “when the cop story first came out, he said he was in a tussle,” said Virgil Delestine…”but the video told what really happened.” With body cameras at the scene this will help increase honesty in policemen because they know they are being recorded. In addition, I feel it would be very effective in building community trust if the police force would broadcast the tapes. By keeping everyone up to date, this will encourage people that law enforcements are not being sneaky and are putting reinforcement in place cops who do wrong.
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,” cameras will help donate evidence of handicap wrong doers in any aspect. In reference to a twelve year old named Tamir Rice being shot in Cleveland. The city rioted after finding that the accused police officer was deemed innocent in the murder of the twelve year old. This situation was visualized as "a pattern or practice of unreasonable and unnecessary use of force" and "the employment of poor and dangerous tactics that place officers in situations where avoidable force become inevitable." Though Cleveland police felt releasing the video of what really happened would only puncture the trust with civilians, it would also help provide evidence to the actual events that took place. "It was a horrible situation that obviously had deadly consequences, but at least we don 't have to be at this point questioning whether the officer was making up a story," Using cameras is like having an insurance policy on the victim, whether it be the police officer or a civilian. “Cameras have potential to be a win-win, helping protect the public against police misconduct, and at the same time helping protect
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:
“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.
According to the department of Justice of found that “both offices and civilians acted in a more positive manner when they were aware that a camera was present”. Cameras could prevent instance of police abuse in the future and awareness to the public. Any video captured can be valuable evidence in court by providing live footage of a crime gone terrible wrong. By body cameras being recording live, police can create a better trust with in law enforcement and their communities. Using body cameras can be a create source of educating law enforcement creating better policing skills. All officers on duty should be requaired to use body cams while on duty.
Although the conduct of police officers and the validity of the video evidence will be scrutinized, body cameras are necessary because police brutality and falsified reports would be diminished. Malcom X stated “If someone puts their hands on you make sure they never put their hands on anybody else again.” In my opinion, I feel the police officers would be held in check due to the knowledge of their constant monitoring. The controversy surrounding police body cameras have been great because the desire of people wanting to protect themselves and their community. The conceptual intent of these cameras would not only be to protect the suspect being recorded, as well as, the officer that is involved in the situation in question.
While both dash cams and body mounted cams record interactions between police and citizens, “dash cam- eras are confined to places where cars can go, which are usually public places, such as roads and parking lots. A dash camera cannot easily record inside people’s homes and other places where there is a heightened expectation of privacy”(Freund 97). Thus, allowing body mounted cameras to record the more private aspects of a law enforcement related situations. Also “unlike body-mounted cameras, CCTV cameras do not record conversations”(Freund 98).This could deter people from going to the police when they witness a crime, because they are afraid of being exposed to the person who committed the crime, giving them the information needed if they choose to retaliate. Ebi, Kevin states that “sensitive information can 't get out if it 's never recorded in the first place,” so, if there is a distress call made to the police for help, there won’t be concern that the person in distresses voice, face or the inside of their home could end up on YouTube ("Body Of
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.
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
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
Right now the Kansas City Police Department (KCPD) is spending $6 million dollars on cameras for their officers according to the KCPD. David Zimmerman Chief of the KCPD says, “”We’re moving toward body cameras for the same reasons we did in-car cameras: to ensure accountability, to identify any issues that could require training and to provide indisputable accounts of incidents.””(). Unlike Zimmerman, chief Tony Farrar of the California’s Rialto Police Department is more worried about making sure the cameras are a good ideas, he is doing this by conducting
Body Cameras haven’t been around that long, but are making a big impact on policing. In the United Kingdom in 2005, they began testing a body camera for police officers. In 2010, over 40 areas in the United Kingdom were using body cameras. In the United States, on August 9th, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri, Michael Brown was shot by a police officer. On July 17th, 2014 in New York, Eric Garner died while in police custody. Since these incidents, police body cameras have been a national topic. Technology is taking the world by storm, everyday there is a new, and unique gadget. Cameras are everywhere in this world. You are being recorded every day, by a camera you
Over the years many cases had emerged on police brutality , like for example, in 2015 , Sandra Bland was pulled over for not using her signal light when switching lanes .During getting pulled over she was asked to put out her cigarette then refused . Later that day , she was killed in police custody .While seeing the video many people speculate that the video that was recorded on the car camera was tampered with . If the officer had on a body camera that day we would've see what happened of out the cameras view .If officers would wear body cameras it would lessen brutality from policemen, honest reports , and lessen the number of complaints .
In conclusion, I talked about why the use of body cameras is necessary. Body cameras are an unbiased piece of equipment that can be used to hold everyone accountable for their actions. Studies have shown that the use of body cameras reduces the amount of police misconduct and overall unnecessary harm to people. Although some cops have been proven guilty of misconduct, not all police officers are bad. Body cameras can also highlight the good things done by our law enforcement. These things will help build trust back into our law enforcement and make our country a better place.
There are various situations where one or many people are accused of committing a certain crime. Ideally, the crime is then reported to the officer who proceeds to arrest the accused. However, sometimes different scenarios play out and one who may think they are in the right may be wrong. Because of these different instances, police officers should wear body cameras in order to capture what happens when he or she makes an arrest. This is due are recent events where criminals and police officers have been accused of something by the other party that they may have not actually done. A variety of law enforcement now use body cameras to avoid these accusations. Body cameras can provide equal protection, assurance that procedures are followed and