Police Officer Body Worn Cameras : Privacy Concerns

Body cameras can hold police officers accountable for their actions, both the good and the bad. “Continuously wearing body cameras would hold police accountable for their appropriate, and inappropriate, conduct” (Buam). Also when the citizens make accusations they could pull the video from the camera and see whether the police officer did what they said they did or not. “Video recorded by body cams protect any false accusations, misconduct, or abuse

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.

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.

A man walks down a road, and is confronted by a police officer wearing a body worn camera. The man and the officer exchange words, and soon after a physical altercation ensues. According to the man’s statement, the officer was out of line, assaulted him, and his privacy was violated by the use of the camera. The officer’s statement, however, said that he was trying to question the man about being intoxicated and the usage of vulgar language, when the subject then began threatening him and ultimately began the attack on him; the officer continued to state he used the minimum amount of force necessary to minimize the threat. The man was ultimately convicted by the video evidence. Police officers feel that wearing body worn cameras will provide all the necessary evidence in any given situation, and protect them from public scrutiny, while the public believes that their privacy is being violated, and at too high of a financial cost. Police officers and public citizens must each concede to find the truth.

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

Another advantage to law enforcement agents wearing body cameras is to document the contact made between the officer and the victim and/or suspect. This documentation can be used as evidence in

Across the country a growing number of legislative departments have been debating about the pros and cons of police body cameras. This paper will further explore benefits, as well as the downfalls of using such devices. This paper will also look at specific cases and examine whether or not body cameras were helpful in various situations. It will examine if they were a deterrent in cases dealing with police brutality and domestic violence. It also looks at how they could be misused and assisting some officers in covering up their corrupt behavior.

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

What is a body worn video? A body worn video, also known as body camera is a video recording system that is typically utilized by law enforcement to record their interactions with the public or gather video evidence at crime scenes, and have been known to increase both officer and citizen accountability. The idea is that a video camera mounted on an officer 's vest or uniform would provide an accurate, objective account of every encounter with a civilian. Ideally, the camera would discourage police misconduct while protecting officers against unfounded civil complaints of brutality or corruption. While the use of body cameras may seem to invade the privacy of officers and the public, officers should wear body cameras because playing body cameras could improve, accountability, behavior, use of force, evidence, and processing and editing.

Body cameras on police officers in this day and age should be required for all departments. Body cameras should be worn to not only protect the officers but also the civilians that come into contact with police officers. It can give valuable information on what happened during an interaction between the public and law enforcement. This can protect the citizens from abuse by the police, as well as give necessary information into officer related shootings. All states should require their branches of law enforcement to require body cameras while on duty.

Police officers should wear body cameras at all times on duty because it creates more evidence. Body cameras document everything from witnesses,victims,and suspects. “Perceived benefits that body-worn cameras offer—capturing a video recording of critical incidents and encounters with the public, strengthening police accountability, and providing a valuable new type of evidence—largely outweigh the potential drawbacks. (Ziv). This supports the argument because body cameras will be able to record any incidents and report them with the public. This quote support my big argument because only the officers and the victims knows what going on in a situation. This quote supports the position because now there will be clear evidence in certain

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

Body cameras can help in many ways. " Body cameras provide richer and more accurate accounts of the incident. " Although this is true, it can be facile and more suitable for the police to gather correct information. Police officers find this a more desirable use because they think that the person who was involved in the situation would tell the

I will identify the advantages of using body cameras as well as the drawbacks (Pollack, 2017). I will discuss if I was stopped by a police officer for a traffic offense would I want to be videotaped. If I was involved in a domestic violence incident would I want to be videotaped when the officers arrived? Then I will discuss whether the police should have the discretion to turn off the camera when they believe a person’s privacy is being invaded regardless of what the person involved thinks so.

In this day in age, technology has a big influence on people lives and one of these influences is the use of recording videos. Going on the internet you can find any type of video and stream it, which can be good for a learning experience, but it also could have a negative experience as well. This is no different for police with body worn cameras, since there is always will be pros and cons when dealing with devices like video cameras. As technology grows so does the idea of using the technology in the law enforcement field. There are many pros to having cameras, some of these would be to minimize complaints, false accusations & increases