Should Police Officers Be Required To Wear Body Cameras?

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

“There have been other high-profile instances of officers not turning on cameras. One officer involved in the shooting of a 22-year-old black man in the small city of Saratoga Springs, Utah, in September didn't turn on his body camera. A second officer involved in the incident had no camera” (Jackson). Body Cameras could help officers make their jobs easier by keeping civilians more civil. Body Cameras would help show if they unnecessary force against civilians. The more use of body cameras would help improve behaviors of officers who are using excessive force for no

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

Police officers should have to be required to wear body cameras to ensure the safety of the citizens and to provide evidence for a court case. Many times the police have gotten away with too many things and commit crimes that go unnoticed It’s time we put a stop to that and we make a change. With the use of body cameras that police force would be more trustworthy, they wouldn’t commit crimes, and they would be able to supply the court with undisputable evidence.

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.

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

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

Historically speaking, authorities of the law were never in a position where their professional duties and their character as a public servant of the law were demeaned in a way that there needs to be constant surveillance of them and the people whom they come into contact with. There was never a need of documenting every encounter you had with a civilian before. In this day in age, things have certainly changed, and the past has always been something society likes to change and make better even if it raises concerns. Due to all the violent police stories that has surfaced in the past decade, the idea of having police officers wear video cameras as a part of their uniform while on duty has resulted in a radically divergent account of society’s future. The law may uphold cops to wear cameras while working, but is this really the best decision? This topic is very controversial and may create issues with cops and the civilians they try and protect in the future.

There have been various situations in which police officers have been falsely accused. Obviously not all police officers are committing misconduct, so the ones that are not would have nothing to hide while wearing a body camera. The purpose of these body cameras are to find out the the truth of what occurs during a one on one encounter with an officer and a citizen. These body cameras would force officers and citizens to be on their best behaviors because now they know they are being recorded and that tape can and will be used against them.

But what happens when they don’t turn the body camera on? There has been cases where an Officer was wearing a body camera but didn’t think to turn it on. Which is common sense because that takes away from the whole purpose and just wasting money. The only problem with body cameras is Officers are in charge of when they are turned on and when they are turned off. They control the record button. Officers need to be faced with the consequences when they don’t use their body camera when they are supposed to. There has already been too many cases where no one knows what happens so the Officer will always win. Just like in the Michael Brown case, where Officer Wilson killed Brown and witnesses were all saying different things as to if Brown was fighting back or if he surrendered. If a body camera would have been worn, then Officer Wilson would have been indicted and justice would have been served. Many incidents like this cause riots and distrust between the public and Officers. The department had the cameras when the killing of Michael Brown happened, but just hadn’t put them into action and start using them yet (Balko 2014). Which is really stupid on their part because if a department has these resources to make things better and to not cause problems for the city then need to be put to good use. This can lead to higher tensions between the

The topic of police wearing body cameras has been heavily debated over recently, but the major spike in discussion occurred approximately a year ago, with the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed African-American eighteen year old in Ferguson, Missouri. There have been other shootings this past year, and many people have become outraged with the way police abuse their power and use excessive force, and now all those protesters want one thing: for all police to wear body cameras. I for one agree with them, it should be mandatory that police wear 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

In reality, the basic truth is that we as a society would whole-heartedly like to believe that seeing video footage of a high risk incident, such as an officer involved‐shooting, would somehow tell the whole story in regards to what happened and how, and that

First, police officers should be required to wear body cameras because of increased police brutality. According to several websites, police brutality has gone up 25% since 2001.That number is staggering considering the number of violent crimes dropped 4% in the past year alone, bringing the number of crimes to the lowest it's been in forty years. Some people claim that police brutality hasn't gone up, and the media just started covering it more. Those claims, however, become smothered by hard facts. Some people just can’t seem to face the truth. The media must be covering more because of more frequent occurances.

I believe that police should have body cameras. I truly believe that if police officers have a body camera on them their would be less shooting if an person is unarmed, less violence, and dishonest reports. I think they should wear body cameras, for example so we can see if they were honest about what they have written their report paper. Police officers should always tell the what really happened on the scene. And as stated in source 3 "illegal use of force by police officers have been shrouded from public view by means by dishonest.