Civilian Body Cameras

Within recent years there has been much controversy surrounding police officers and whether or not they should be wearing body cameras to document their everyday interactions with the public. While the use of body cameras may seem to invade the public or police privacy. Police-worn body cameras will be beneficial to law enforcement and civilians all over the world. Police must be equipped with body cameras to alleviate any doubt in the effectiveness of officers. Law enforcement worn body cameras would enhance the trust of the public by keeping both the officers and the citizens accountable for their actions, providing evidence, and helping protect them from false accusations, while protecting privacy

In the past, police officers and the public only had their word as their testimony. They had no choice but to try convince the jury that their side of the story was the truth. High profile cases between officers and the public have left the public searching and wanting answers. Some law enforcement departments have added another piece of equipment to their police officers for their added protection, while they patrol the streets. This controversial piece of

There is so much crime which occurs in our society today, which it is very difficult to put an end to it. But there is a thing which is common among these crimes which are the criminals. According to the article, "Police body Cams: Solution or scam? Nwanevu the author has stated many questions to which he gathers the responses from three panels who is Mariame Kaba a member of the Chicago antipolice violence organization, David Fleck a vice president and he is also a major manufacturer of the police body cameras, and Connor Boyack who is a president of Utah 's Liberates Institute. This article mentions the popular magazine such as Time magazine, this magazine reports that over a quarter of the country 's police departments are already testing or actively using cameras, including the NYPD and the LAPD (Nwanevu, 2015). Also the author Nwanevu states that The Obama administration has called for the federal funding to support the deployment of as many as 50,000 devices to state and local law enforcement agencies. The administration 's reasoning captures the perspective of most camera supporters. According to the status the usage by police officers will help sustain trust between law enforcement agencies and the communities they interact with (Nwanevu, 2015). Reformers have suggested that the video could have gone a long way towards resolving the ambiguities of the Michael Brown case where eyewitnesses had given conflicting stories and also the death of Eric Garner according to

Body cameras in policing are still new, but more and more agencies are beginning to implement this technology into their line of work. At first police officers were very hesitant to wear these body cameras because they were afraid they would infringe themselves and give away their own privacy. Later, as body cameras were beginning to see more use in the work place, officers began to realize that these very own body cameras that they once thought would only cause themselves harm would actual prove to be useful in a variety of situations. Some of these situations can be citizen complaints, to even backing up an officers use of force. Body cameras can be the one sole thing that can give

I selected an article about police body cameras. The article cited several studies, as well as the authors’ ideas and thoughts. The article, titled Police Body Cameras, is part of the CATO Institute’s National Police Misconduct Reporting Project, and prepared by Matthew Feeney in 2015. The theme throughout the article is that the use of body cameras will reduce police misconduct. Although we all hope this is the case, we must also look at the other issues involved with the wearing of body cameras. In an effort to gain citizen buy-in and obtain their opinions, they conducted surveys. Interestingly enough, most people did not want the officers to record them, unless it was during an enforcement encounter, such as a traffic stop or arrest situation.

Rialto, California is an example of a city with positive results from the use of body-cameras. In Rialto, police began wearing body-cameras a little less than three years ago. As a result of officers wearing body-cameras, citizens’ complaints against police officers dropped 88 percent and use of force by police officers dropped 60 percent from the previous 12 month period when body-cameras were not in use. Rialto’s police chief said, “When you put a camera on a police officer, they tend to behave a little better, follow the rules a little better. And if the citizen knows the officer is wearing a camera, chances are the citizen will behave a little better” (Lovett).

a) In a 2012 study, it was found that officers that were required to wear cameras while on the job were more cautious and their use of excessive force fell by 60 percent, while public complaints dropped by 88 percent. (Rory Carroll, 2013)

A fairly common recommendation for reducing police misconduct to increase use of body cameras. By recording police-citizen encounters, police supervisors, judges, reporters, and others can get objective evidence of what happened instead of self serving hearsay. Body cameras have been the talk of many police departments among the United States. But not everyone has tried it out or used it yet, as we can see. Body cameras should be used because citizens are being innocently killed by police, officers are being falsely accused of wrongdoing, and it allows for physical proof of evidence.

Evidence is very important in a case. So what is the best way to get true evidence? Body cams can help find the evidence that is needed for a case. This way evidence can always be 100% correct. Andy Hoover said “Video provided critical evidence in the Hummelstown case and in the shooting death of Walter Scott in North Charleston, S.C., in which officer Michael Slager has been charged with homicide.”. This is proof of the positive effect that body cameras have on the community. If body cameras were not used in this case, the officer could have not be charged with nothing. Evidence is very helpful when it is correct. “Captain De Anda says the footage has been useful as evidence during prosecution, and that the presence of the cameras seems to serve as a check on inappropriate behavior by both police and citizens. In addition, he says, it 's already served as a protection for officers accused of excessive force.” says Amanda Paulson who lives in Ferguson where the death of Michael Brown occurred.

The body camera has become a popular choice amongst police departments worldwide. The situation of the scenario, and if the officer or suspect acted in the right can be determined from past footage. The cause of the body camera has been the allegations against officers for how they acted in certain situations, as well as for how the suspect acted during the callout. The effect has been officers being terminated due to lack of integrity or situational awareness, as well as officer safety. Suspects have also been convicted of false accusations against a police officer, as well as crimes presented in court, from fights, to officer involved shootings. The body worn camera has benefited both police officers and the general public.

In February 2012, the Rialto California police department started supplying their officers with cameras they could clip on to their uniforms. At any given time, about half of their active duty officers wore these cameras. They found, in a twelve month period, that the department overall "had an 88 percent decline in the number of complaints filed against the officers". (Stross, R. 2013, April 6). They also had a 60 percent decline in the use of force by officers. They also found that officers wearing a camera were half as likely to use force as oppose to officers not wearing one. This is clear evidence that police wearing body cameras is a good

Imagine if every police officer in the United States had to be required to wear body cameras. The questioning between officer Darren Wilson and Mike Brown could have been solved if a body camera could have captured the incident. This can increase the better outcomes of police officers and their job. People will be able to see everything that happens through the camera 's lens. How do you feel about body cameras being worn? Even though some people believe police officers should not have to wear body cameras, I believe that police officers should be required to wear body cams at all times on duty because it creates more evidence in cases, enforces officers to abide by the laws,and builds trust with the community.

Adam Schiff a Democratic US congressman writes in his article Body Cameras Will Stop Police Brutality, “A study conducted of the Rialto, California, police department from 2012 to 2013 showed the potential of cameras. With half of the police department wearing cameras recording each interaction with the public, the department experienced an 88 percent reduction in complaints against officers.” So far, the cameras look to be having a positive effect on policing. One could infer that the drop-in complaints could be due to officers keeping their tongue in check more due to the possibility that it could be caught on camera. On the other hand, it could also be because people are less likely to file false complaints when they know that officers could prove them wrong with the camera and audio recordings of the

It is alarming that 61% of officers say they do not report serious abuse that has been directly observed by fellow officers (“42 Shocking Police Brutality Statistics,” 2017). 84% of police officers have stated that they have directly witnessed a fellow officer using more force than what was necessary (“42 Shocking Police Brutality Statistics,” 2017). It is important to lower the amount of deaths caused by those who swear to serve and protect. Police body cameras will improve officer behavior by ensuring each and every officer is

What happens when there isn’t enough evidence to prove someone guilty, or when an officer isn’t taking responsibility for his or her actions? There are thousands of videos seen all over the internet and talked about on the radio about violence between an officer and another individual. Would the story of what really happened be different if the video was taken by a body camera, from a different angle compared to the one posted all over Facebook taken by an innocent bystander. With the potential that these body cameras could prevent violence, hold accountability and provide evidence, they also put restrictions on the privacy of civilians, create expenses and cause technical issues that could affect the outcome of the footage being recorded.