Argumentative Essay: Red Light And Traffic Cameras

The Department of Justice is planning to launch a new pilot program so body camera’s can be more widely used across the country. Federal officials plan to grant almost $20 million in funding across the country to law enforcement agencies. These agencies will have to have their own policies in place before being able to buy cameras (Berman). These cameras are small pager, sized cameras that clip onto an officers uniform or can be worn as a head set.

Although many drivers are all too familiar with red-light cameras, they did not just appear over night. The first red-light camera bill in United States history was passed in New York City, in 1993, after quite a few years of testing. (“Intervention Fact Sheets”) After the bill in New York was passed with success, many other states

The cameras are very small portable devices, it’s the size and length of a cigarette stick. The camera is attached to the police officers uniform and sits in a pocket. Usually police officers are required to wear this body camera while they are on duty. The cameras record everything that happens between officers and civilians. The Rialto Police Department was the first to actually use and wear the body cameras in 2012. They did a yearlong study to see the impact of police relations by wearing body cameras. One officer wasn’t feeling too good about this idea because he thought the cameras would be to punish them instead of helping them out. “During the first year after the cameras were introduced, the use of force by police officers reportedly declined 60% and complaints from citizens against law enforcement officers decreased 88%.” This was a yearlong study in which 54 officers had to

used to prevent more crime from happening in certain areas. Moreover, the cameras are used to

These, however, are all easily solved. The expense of body cameras can be covered by cutting the funding for unnecessary, expensive weapons such as the third armored personnel carrier that Tampa, Florida recently purchased, or the weaponized drone that Montgomery County, Texas recently purchased. Aside from transferring funding, a solution has been found by the Los Angeles Police Department. They have decided that, as long as they have permission, the officers can use personal recording devices. The LAPD has also found solutions to the storage and recording requirement issues. The LAPD saves videos for at least 2 years unless they are relevant to a case. They allow recording in public places so long as they are not off duty or in plain clothes, but as soon as they are on private property they must turn off the recording device, and are not required to state that they are recording. The recordings are available to the LAPD, criminal investigators, lawyers, and prosecutors if they are requested (Aguilar). With these reasonable, logical solutions, there is no reason for cameras to remain unenforced in police forces.

Security cameras have been bought by the millions and are being put everywhere. The chances of walking down the street corner and not being videotaped are slim to none. Security cameras range for traffic cameras, car cameras, to business cameras. The use of security cameras has diminished crime solving time. If a convenient store gets robbed chances are there are at least 4 cameras all pointed in different directions. This makes police work a lot easier where now an officer can view the tape and get a good picture of their suspect. These cameras can be set up at traffic intersections as well to catch traffic violations, and in India that’s exactly what their doing. As India’s cities grow they require more safety features like road side cameras. The article ,Sony Network Cameras help Indore Police, describes the uses of these cameras. Sony has partnered with the Indore police in setting up red light cameras that watch for traffic violations. When the light turns red the camera sets up a virtual line and any vehicle that passes the line is flagged and a picture is taken of the license plate. The cameras also have multiple other uses such as monitoring parking lots and sidewalks. Many people do not like this new system though, and the thought of it is that an officer should be present when issuing a citation. This allows the driver to have a chance to explain themselves to the officer making traffic violations

With the increasing emergence of traffic cameras around the nation, there has emerged a debate about whether the cameras are effectively functioning to keep drivers safe or whether they are just another source of revenue for cites. Facts have proven that the purpose for the traffic cameras is simply generating more money for the cities. The estimated amount of money that the city of Denver will be making in 2011 from these cameras (Kaminsky)—excluding the ones recently put up—a grand estimation total of seven million dollars… “According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety more than 550 communities in the United States use red light cameras.” (Urie) Research shows how the cameras are not improving safety for drivers, and for

When there are police officers out and about doing their job, the body cameras can take pictures of the scene. When the police officers need help if there is no signal for their phones,

Cameras are not the deciding factor of whether an officer is capable of making the tough decision. The technology is only there to collect evidence prior to any event that may happen. Devises like the camera are often used by the police departments to help out with certain everyday tasks like security cameras. Other advanced technologies have become available to offers over the year because of an increase of hostage situations and bomb threats.

These types of devices would help show an omniscient side to a very chaotic situation. In an article titled “Police Use New Technologies to Fight Crime” by George Avalos, a business reporter for the Bay Area News Group who covers the economy, jobs, PG&E, Chevron, financial companies and commercial real estate, Mr. Avalos discusses the new technology that is used in the police force by the officers. This article also hits home on the idea of attaining body worn cameras for all police departments because of the benefits of wearing body cameras. When talking about these new technological devices, the article ends by stating that “license plate readers, facial recognition technologies, [and] videos from body cameras, coupled with street cameras and drones, could be aggregated into huge databases that can enable law enforcement to improperly gather information about people's habits and destinations” (Avalos). Being able to compile all of this information could help uncover secret operations, such as drug deals, and could potentially catch wanted criminals or future criminals. Having body cameras that have facial recognition would help the police identify people who may not have a valid license on them. On the other hand, police officers can abuse the very thing that could also make their job easier. Many police officers may use these devices as an intimidator. Emmeline Taylor, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at City, University of London, states in her article “Police Detainee Perspectives on Police Body-worn Cameras”, that some police officers can abuse the technology that is available to them to prevent something; “While [the use of BWCs has] been encouraged to assist in reducing racial profiling in stop and search, they could produce other types of discrimination, such as being used to intimidate and record in

Technology has benefited developed countries in numerous amounts of ways. Most recently, body cameras has seen use in a few U.S. law enforcement agencies across the United States and has improved public relations for those police departments. However, many police officers and lawmakers question the cost and efficiency of such devices and whether the citizens should be placed under constant surveillance when near a law enforcement officer. Whether or not body-worn cameras should be required to be implemented into law enforcement agencies across America is debatable and the decision is dependent on the factors of public safety, cost efficiency, and whether body cameras will serve a practical use or not.

The have always wanted to enforce this law, infact they have been trying it out in the more active cities. The cameras is a small little rectangular black cube,

Even though there is promising potential in these devices, their use has been found to be controversial, and one of the reasons behind this is the lack of formal policies for police body cameras. Many American police departments lack consistent, clear, or even any formal policies regarding how to

Body cameras on police can be, by a long shot, a standout amongst other approaches to back off or even stop

Surveillance is supervising of the actions, activities, or other changing information. Usually people use this to control , manage, direct, or to protect themselves . Video surveillance means examining from a distance by means of electronic equipment such as CCTV cameras etc. The word surveillance has been derived from a FRENCH phrase for "watching over":- sur means "from above" and veiller means "to watch".