During the summer of 2012, Marcus Jeter, an African-American male, was arrested by New Jersey police officers, Orlando Trinidad and Sean Courter, due to the reason of “eluding police, resisting arrest and aggravated assault on an officers” (Goldstein). Some of the interaction was recorded on the dashboard camera, but not much of it could help prove Jeter’s innocence. Jeter consistently argued that the officers had used excessive violence during his arrest even though he was compliant and did not act out of turn. After listening to Jeter’s testimonial, the Bloomfield Police Department conducted an internal investigation, but reported no wrongdoing in the officer’s actions. Jeter’s case then proceeded and he contemplated accepting the plea deal …show more content…
On August 5, 2014, five days prior to Michael Brown’s death, John Crawford III was fatally shot by police officers in an Ohio Walmart aisle. At the site of Crawford’s shooting, there were two hundred surveillance cameras, many showing him holding a toy gun, him on his cell phone, and other details of his death. After receiving a call from Ronald Richie, another patron, police officers responded to the scene with loaded guns and without any de-escalation fatally shot Crawford. Likewise with many other African American shootings by the police, the grand jury also failed to indict the officers who shot Crawford. Crawford’s outcome demonstrates one reason to be skeptical about the Police CAMERA Act because although there are high-quality camera footages police officers are still not getting indicted and these violent acts are still ongoing. However, as stated previously, body-worn cameras creates a sense of “self-awareness” in police officers than any other video capturing device can. According to the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Criminology, though Crawford’s death is a “miscarriage of justice, the filming itself by bystander or any form would not generate the self-awareness and consequent behavior modification during the incident.” Dr. Barak Ariel, a member of the Rialto Study from the Cambridge Institution of Criminology, explained that the body-worn camera present a ‘preventative treatment’ that carry a straightforward, pragmatic message that everyone is being watched, videotaped, and are expected to follow the
Derek Jeter is known as an influential player in the world of sports and on a generation of people growing up during that time. He played for the NY Yankees for 20 historic seasons known as the prime for their organization. His position for them was shortstop and never played anywhere else for the Yankees. The Yankees were only professional team he played for and one five championships for them. This was very rare for a player to spend 20 years with a team that drafted them because during that Era most players were only a part for 4 years at most. Derek is known by the Yankees as the captain of the Bronx’s and of their organization. The biggest wins of his career were during the 1990s and 2000s. They won most games during that time on his dependable hitting, clutch base running and terrific plays at shortstop. Deter turned out to be the Yankees all-time leader in the category for hits with 3,465. He also
The issue of police body cameras really hit the media hard this week. Blasting from the headlines all citizens were aware that Michael Brown was fatally shot in Ferguson, Missouri. This prompted officers to become equipped with body cameras. This technologically advanced world that we live in today has created a world of tweeting, posting and uploading. It’s about time that police departments take advantage of the tools accessible to them especially with the advancement of equipment. The move forward in technology will help to alleviate speculation on any crime perpetrated. There now will be hard factual evidence on any crime committed against a police officer.
This article describes how the increase of body cameras will help reduce police misconduct by recording police-citizen encounters, and serving as evidence of what happened. This article also talks about the complications that it contains. One of the complications are the privacy concerns, many people say they don't want their police encounters to be all over social media. It also says that body cameras are not the only thing that will make officers behave, it says they also need reforms of use-of-force policy and training. Even though there are many privacy concerns experts have said that those concerns can be resolved with the right policies. This is a great article to use because it appeals to
The dispute of police body cameras truly hit the media hard this week. Blasting from the headlines all citizens were aware that Michael Brown was lethally shot in Ferguson, Missouri. This prompted officers to become fortified with body cameras. This technologically progressive world that we live in today has shaped a world of tweeting, posting and uploading. It’s about time that police departments take advantage of the tools accessible to them, especially with the advancement of equipment. The move forward in technology will help to alleviate speculation on any misconduct perpetrated. There now will be hard honest evidence of any crime committed against a police officer.
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.
In most cases of police-related brutality, the officers, often working in two, back each other because of the culture of brotherhood present in most of the uniformed forces. The body-worn cameras are supposed to ensure that they corroborate the version of the accounts that they give when the Internal Affairs department is debriefing them. Arguably, this premise was what informed the massive adoption within one year of the fatal shooting in Ferguson (Jennings et al. 481). The federal government has invested in the technology as a way of ensuring that police brutality is avoided at all
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
The social media and the public might want police body cam footage release but sometimes it might be to graphic or controversial. Police body cameras have been a topic since the incident with Michael Brown in august of 2014. Police shot and killed an unarmed individual in ferguson, MO, leading to many people wanting cameras on police. Whether the cameras are a good idea or not this paper will explore the facts and sides of police body cameras. Overall body cameras should be required Because they can save the lives of the innocent, keep innocent people from going to jail, and can help a case as more evidence.
With cases of alleged unnecessary police force that have taken the lives of unarmed civilians like Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, and Michael Brown, the need for transparency and truth has never been more vital. Body cameras can shed light on truth within legal cases at the cost of an officer’s privacy while on duty. These cameras can film police officials in very intimate moments, such as changing into their uniform, using the restroom, or engaging in private conversation. While body cameras are able to pick up on private moments in an officer’s life, allowing for a straightforward perspective of situations that will ultimately serve justice is worth enduring a few moments of discomfort in a police officer’s day-to-day
Over a thousand more deaths due to police brutality have occurred since the shooting of Michael Brown (“Stats”). These events caused the public to start questioning those who enforce the law. Some of these events were caught on tape by bystanders, which were
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).
On the evening of February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida, a neighborhood watch coordinator, George Zimmerman fatally shot unarmed 17-year-old teenager named Trayvon Martin. Some say Zimmerman acted rightfully in self-defense while others believe he acted wrongfully by racially profiling Martin during the incident. Similarly, on August 9, 2015, an 18-year-old teenager named Michael Brown was fatally shot to death by police officer, Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. Some witnesses believe that Brown was unarmed during this unfortunate incident and that he was holding his hands up in order to surrender to Wilson. Unfortunately, society may never know what actually happened since witnesses, proof, and evidence were very limited during that time of the events. Incidents like these may never have to happen again if law enforcement wore body cameras during their shifts. Body-worn cameras are a video recorder mainly used by police and law enforcement to record interactions with the public, evidence at crime scenes while still improving officer and citizen accountability. Due to the recent rise in news following innocent people being unjustly shot by law enforcement, the idea of wearing body cameras are starting to look like a great idea. Body worn cameras seem like a great asset to utilize for every police officer out there however there are some faults to it as well like some security, ethical, and social issues.
Recent news headlines with vivid video evidence of police brutality have inspired debates around law enforcement’s use of excessive force particularly against those in minority communities. Historically, there has been tension between minority communities and law enforcement resulting in mutual distrust. In order to dissolve these tensions and build this trust, policy initiatives have been put in place to encourage accountability and transparency. This paper will discuss the prospects that body cameras offer to help achieve transparency, accountability, and build trust. However, policies promoting transparency and accountability are not enough.
Police Brutality is a big issue in America. There has been many cases in which the Police Officer is put into question. Body Cameras have already been used in other states and it has proven that it reduces Police Brutality. On October 18, Corey Jones a musician was killed by a Palm Beach Garden’s Officer. Corey Jones was having trouble with his car so, he called his brother to come pick him up. The Police Officer didn’t have a body camera nor a police dashboard camera in his vehicle. He was was wearing a baseball cap, T-shirt, and jeans. He was driving in an unmarked 15-passenger van. There were no witnesses at the scene just the Police Officer and Corey Jones.The use of body cameras may invade the public or police privacy, but it helps more in cases because it provides evidence, reveals officers’ behavior, and protects the public as well as officers.
As I discussed in my WP2, The majority of academics come to the general consensus the need for the implementation of body worn cameras in policing is urgent(Aymer, Brown, Emesowum, Mollow, Schouten). Scholars focusing on the more ethical side for the need of body cameras include Anna Mollow, and Owen Brown. Mollow is a highly credible scholar due to her Phd from the University of California Berkeley and extended research in the field of racial, women’s queer, fat, and disability studies. She provided us with extensive evidence and research from John Hopkins University on the case of Eric Garner. Garner was murdered after experiencing excessive police force when not resisting arrest, and Mollow essentially argued the combination of Garner’s skin color and the fact that he was obese correlated with the excessive amount of force the officers used when restraining Garner, which lead to his death(Mollow). The author Owen Brown also uses ethics to provide reason for the implementation of body cameras. Although he uses the statistics of stop and frisk to support his studies, he supplements the statistics with studies including cases such as Trayvon Martin, a case although heavily debated at the time, many people have an emotional connection to(Brown).