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Police and Body Cameras
Recently, there has been many arguments whether police should use body cameras as a part of their standard uniform. There are reasons on why the police should wear body cameras, while there are also numerous reasons on why they would not be useful. Obviously, there are some advantages to wearing body cameras. Before all else, it would reduce violence between the possible suspect and the police. According to the article, “Justice Department Allocates $20 Million for Body Cameras” by Christina Beck, when the camera are in use, everyone behaves better. Studies show that uses of force were decreased by officers and citizens when body cameras were in use. Additionally, the body cameras would minimize confusion to the public because on camera it would show exactly what happened. Also, if every police department invested
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There are also obvious disadvantages to arming police officers with cameras that are causing controversy within the community. For example, body cameras are costly. An article “Police Began Wider Body Camera Use After Months of Testing” confirms that in Los Angeles alone, would spend $58 million on body cameras over five years. Juan Seone, a Boston detective states that taxes would be raised in order to pay the expenses of body cameras. Even though every police department are planning to have cameras on each officer by the summer of 2017, it is a lofty goal. Another
disadvantage is that the cameras will show more than just facts. In the article, “Police Body Camera Show More Than Just the Facts” written by Eileen Sullivan, a Seattle man was arrested in January and though he has yet to be charged with an offence, his arrest was captured on the police officer's body camera along with his full name, phone number, and birthdate. Additionally, there is another issue that comes into question such as police officers failing to
I think body cameras on police officers are worth the expense. Abby Phillips from the Washington Post says “At the 1 year memorial for Michael Brown,Tyrone Harris was supposedly armed with a 9mm Sig Sauer that was reported stolen last year so the cops opened fire on him and he is now in critical condition. His family and friends denied that he was armed.” (Phillips 1) We should have body cameras on police officers because it would show evidence of what actually happened at this crime scene and many others that are still being questioned. The cameras would basically show if there is any foul play from the cop and or if it was the actual suspects fault. Having the camera’s would end all of the questioning in police cases
In today 's society, one highly debatable topic is whether or not law enforcement agents should wear body cameras. Most cameras used by law enforcement agencies across the country record audio and video, therefore, the cameras see and hear nearly everything a law enforcement officer does. There are many advantages to law enforcement personnel using body cameras while on duty because it holds the officers accountable, is used to document the contact made between the officers and the victims and/or suspects, supports the “use of force” action, keeps the officers and citizens honest, and the videos can even be used for training for other officers.
Due to devastating events that have taken place between the police and civilians in 2015, law enforcements are finding it liable for policeman to be suited with body cameras. They believe doing so will begin to hold policeman more accountable for their actions, reduce police brutality and crime, as well as shedding light on the good cops still out here.
Should police officers wear body cameras? This topic is one of the most debated topics throughout the United States. Body cameras record the interaction of the officer with civilians. This increases accountability and transparency of the police department. In addition, body cameras allow police officers to evaluate themselves, create accurate evidence, reduce complaints against officers, and reduce the use-of-force incidents. Accurate evidence builds trust with the public, and reduce the risk of outbursts. For all these reasons, police officers should wear body cameras.
Disobeying and dishonest police officers are the ones that would have something to worry about because they can lose their jobs and potentially get time in prison for crime they have done that was caught on film. This is a positive as well because it will seek out negative officers. The majority of findings that can happen by requiring police officers to wear body cameras are positives rarely any negatives. It would not only show undeniable evidence but also make more police officers obey the law which has been proven by statics. Kaste states “The people who like body cameras always point to a Study done in Rialto, Calif, in 2012. Researchers found that officers who wore cameras used force less often — incidents dropped by more than 50 percent”(kaste). According to Kaste a study was done on police officers that used body cameras and it was ruled that officers that used body cameras used less force and the amount of incidents that happend dropped by 50 percent. Civilians as well if they know everything is being recorded by them they will think twice before doing anything that could get them into some sort of
Police should be required to wear body cams because sometimes or often the police and/or the suspect would lie about the crime that happened. Police may lie about the crime because they don’t want to get in trouble because of something that they did wrong. Also the suspect may be telling the truth and the police is just
Police Wearing Body Camera “Law enforcement officers are never ‘off duty.’ They are dedicated public servants who are sworn to protect public safety at any time and place that the peace is threatened. They need all the help that they can get”(Boxer). Officer’s jobs in the community are too keep the citizens safe, but also being able to go home every day to their families. Police officers should wear body cameras because it will secure the bond between officers and the community, protect them from false accusations, and provide them training techniques and skills.
(Jenkins). Overall, the advantages of body cameras, which could improve relationships between police and civilians, alleviate racial tension, and provide almost completely
Bystanders often film police interactions and sometimes catch police officers acting in ways that look incriminating. The problem with this is that most of the time, there is no context and people watching the video do not know what the circumstances behind the video were. Implementing body cameras would prevent any misunderstandings that could harm the police officers. To support this, the article “Police Body Cameras Offer Protection For All” writes, “Moreover, when a citizen cellphone video involving police activity surfaces, it may or may not show how the situation unfolded from the moment police arrived on the scene. It's in the best interest of law enforcement to have video documentation of its own that might bring extenuating circumstances to light.” This will prevent false accusations and help protect the jobs of police officers
Police officers should wear the body camera because they can view the video of footage of their encounters before writing their incidents reports. Police officers have been killing innocent people these days mostly black/African Americans, if they wear or use there body camera it can and will show what the police officer really have done. Judges and also lawyers can use the body camera video
There has been some debate on the matter of whether or not law enforcement officials should wear body cameras or not. Law enforcement officers should wear body-worn cameras because it will help the officers while on patrol and the offender while being arrested or stopped. This topic has been debated for a long period of time. It really came to light when Michael Brown, an 18 year old african american boy, was shot and killed in August of 2014 by Officer Wilson, in Ferguson, Missouri.
To begin with, allowing body cameras as a part of a law enforcement officers uniform would be beneficial to the police officer. A benefit of having body cameras is decreasing complaints filed against police officers. “One of the most favored advantages brought about by body cameras is the noticeable
In order for body cameras to truly be effective in society, they must be used correctly and the footage must be handled properly. Therefore, through proper usage and experience with devices, body cameras can be very beneficial to any community. Body cameras are small cameras equipped on police officers. They are on the uniform
Much interest in the technology of the body cameras comes from a growing problem that the United States has been having a major problem with police violence. Though some might argue that the wearing of body cameras violate privacy, in fact the use of the cameras will minimize violence, show accountability, and a human side of policing. These body cameras would help serve by providing video evidence that can be referenced and use anytime allegations are made against police officers and criminals alike. The use of these body cameras are somewhat in the evaluation and study stages, but they are quickly becoming the standard in some police departments across the United States. These cameras would not only serve to provide video evidence, but it provide accountability. The ideal policy for the cams is that they stay on and continue recording throughout police officers shifts, which would help eliminate any possibility of doing something that would not be used as evidence later on and help them evade the recording of abuse committed while on duty.
Any footage that is on a body camera that records a crime happening at that very moment, can be used in a court as evidence against the suspect. In some cases, if there was no footage to be shown there would be little to no evidence to convict the person of the crime and the suspect may be set free. Erica Baum, author of “5 Pros and Cons of Police Wearing Body Cameras” gave a great example regarding a study that was done at the University of Cambridge. The study found that when police officers are wearing their body cameras, the police and as well as the suspect was fifty percent less likely to use any type of violence. Body cameras can prevent incidents like the Ferguson case, when an African American male died due to a police officer using superfluous force and the entire incident was caught on the officer’s body camera. Unfortunately, every citizen does not trust body cameras due to the limitations of when the police can turn the camera on and off. Thus, lacking the credibility of the body cameras and if they may be potentially tampered