Law enforcement was created to protect the people and not to bring harm or danger to them as in recent cases like the shooting of Michael Brown an 18 year old young man, by police back in August 2014, as well as the consequential protests that it caused in Ferguson, Missouri and around the entire country. There is a serious and painful cause to mandate the use of body cameras worn by law enforcement everywhere to bring some sort of transparency when it comes to police-civilian interactions. These body cameras have received very positive evaluations from groups like the NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund, as well as the (ACLU) , a civil liberties group . These groups applaud the use of the body worn cameras and feels that the more popular
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.
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
In the aftermath of the Rodney king beating a lot of things changed with police on the field. “In the wake of the Rodney king case; cameras became standard equipment in patrol cars all over the nation” (Marcou). In doing this police now cannot cover up an incident that they were a part of. “As far as citizens recording police, there is still much disagreement about how it should be handled” (Marcou). Nowhere in the constitution does it say the citizens cannot film stuff that is happening outside their house. “When it comes to training, officers are told “have your camera going at all times. A professional police officer has nothing to fear from being recorded and always act as if you are being recorded, because in today’s world you probably are” (Marcou). Thanks to cases like Rodney Kings, law enforcement is much more aware of misuse of force in the field.
Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot and killed on August 2014, by Darren Wilson, a white police officer, in Ferguson, Mo. Brown, an 18-year-old African-American was fatally shot and killed in the street shortly after robbing a convenience store. The disputed circumstances of the shooting of the unarmed young man sparked existing tensions in the majority-black community and law enforcements in Ferguson, Mo. The event received considerable attention in the U.S. and elsewhere, attracted protesters from outside the region, and generated a powerful debate about the relationship between law enforcement and African Americans and the police use of excessive force. The shooting prompted protests that shaken the area for weeks. The announcement of the grand jury that they decided not to indict Mr. Wilson set off another wave of protests. Many police officers have defended Wilson, pointing out that officers patrolling violent neighborhoods risk their lives, while demonstrators saw the case in terms of racism and police brutality. However, Brown’s killing and the following events in Ferguson became a national controversy touching on much larger national issues of race, justice, and police brutality. While the specifics of the Brown shooting involved is not clear, the situation would have been dramatically different had Wilson worn body camera which would have recorded the actual event. With new body camera technology
Due to the events in Ferguson Missouri that happened on August 9th 2014, a new controversy has swept the nation. The question seems to be, should American police officers be required to wear body cameras? A petition was started on the website “We the People” to instate a new law, called the "Mike Brown Law", that requires all police officers to wear body cameras. The petition has acquired over 150,000 signatures and a good deal of news coverage. If this law were to be put into fruition, it will help restore citizens’ faith in the police force. For another thing, citizens would no longer have to worry about the police using unnecessary force. On the other hand, this is not a punishment for police. It will also be helpful for the police when
This statement emphasizes that lack of respect police officers have towards the poor blacks and hispanics. They feel that people within a poor community are powerless when something bad happens. This is one of many reasons why police officers should wear body cameras. Police officers wearing body cameras will add one more piece to the puzzle that can help the community start healing the lack of trust in the law. Due to the police officer wrongfully killing. Because the incident will be caught on the body camera than it is possible that the police officer will be caught and justice will be served. The judge will have no choose not to convict because the incident is on camera. Wearing body cameras can eventually help the affect on how the police officers acts. Kelly states that “Police responses has included confiscation of cell phones or cameras, coerced destruction of images, and arrest or threat of arrest, often in direct contravention of law, departmental policies, or judicial order” (7). Police officers have become angry at the fact that they have to wear body cameras because they know that some of their actions are
A body camera are a useful thing, well not for cops because it can give more depth into what cops do in according to the SIRS DATABASE in Ferguson,Missouri in 2014 a black unarmed teen was shot to death by a cop but instead of them indict him they made him where a body cam. All across the community and the country body cams where given to polices officers $263 million in funding went in to this to proved fore these body cam's. The people that voted fore theses body came's say that it will reduce the use of force by police and lessen the number of complaints agent them. People say body cam's will be a good thing because cops cant tamper withe the evidence because the body cam will have it on video so cops cant say that the person the arrested for something they did not do that is-int true. The body cam will have it on video. Body came's will help improve the community and the un-orthodontics ways of cops. Body cam videos will bring a hole new light to thing in the court room because there will be actual proof of lets say a cop beating an unarmed person there body cam video will keep the right people out of jail and leave some cops without a job.
This issue needs to be attended to now because this problem is growing across the U.S. and no justice is being served for most excessive force cases due to the lack of evidence and the rights that police officers have. This issue needs to be addressed because it is starting to cause problems within the communities and for the police. Officers gets bashed on due to the view everybody have on them, and this is affecting the fair officers as well. They don’t get looked upon as friendly anymore, but enemies which causes citizens to retaliate. The communities are not at rest with police officers and riots have broken out due to unsolved excessive force cases and there are a large amount of people protesting for justice to be served.
Body Cams In America, police brutality has been a subject that has been a hot topic of discussion for some time now. Many people have strong opinions on what they believe is best for the citizens and for law enforcement. A big question for many is, “how can we find a solution to this ongoing problem?”
In 2014, an unarmed black teen was shot to death in Ferguson, Missouri, and the jury’s decision was not to charge the police officer involved in the shooting. With all the protests from around the country, President Obama proclaimed that $263 million in funding would go to equipping body cameras for police officers, stated an article named “At Issue: Police and Body Cameras”. Contributing to the cases of mistreatment and also the unjustified killings of the citizens, it has fed their distrust in the police and their reports. In my opinion, killing teenagers shouldn’t be this big of a problem. Shooting at an innocent child should be a police officer’s last resort. With body cameras, we the public can actually see what had happened and charge the
Are you confident that the body camera is keeping both sides honest? Cameras can only show what the camera holder wants us to see. However, on some levels, I think the cameras on the officers can become beneficial because as the public a little more can become seen than just hearing the cops word. William, I worry about the body cameras, when activated because " the cameras can also capture moments after a stressful incident where statements by the officers and the public can be taken out of context and used against the person making the statements." The cameras becoming used as away to cause harm or used out of context is why I am very undecided whether the cameras are the best idea. I am glad that I am not the only one that thought
Do Police Body Cameras Pose a Privacy Issue for Police Officers and the General Public
“An officer in Ferguson, Missouri, shoots and kills an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown. Since many people were triggered, they protested for police to use body cameras at all time while at work.” Police officers should be required to wear body cameras to keep people in the community safer and to prevent accidental deaths. Body cameras is a small video camera worn on the body/police uniform, that typically used by police officers to record arrests, evidence from crime scenes, etc.
Another innocent person shot and killed. police officers all around the united states should be equipped with body cameras. There is lots of reasons why. First its innocent people getting killed, its hard to figure out who telling the truth, and nine times out of ten the officer or officers are the ones the judge believe.
Technology is constantly advancing throughout the years. One technological advancement is body-worn video(BWV) or head cameras. The BWV is worn on a shirt, jacket, or even a helmet. This advancement has become beneficial to our livelihood and law enforcement agencies(LEAs). Peace officers and citizens are safer due to the use of body cameras. This paper will be discussing the reasons its safer and the statistics behind it.