Should Police Wear Body Cameras Essay

One widely accepted idea is that body cameras for police to wear will help to observe what actually happens in traffic stops with police and serve justice to civilians and police officers. According to the article, “Should Police Wear Body Cameras?”, in May of 2015 the Obama administration started a $75 million dollar program to test how effective body cameras are, with hopes to give out 50,000 body cameras in 2018 to police officers (Majerol 6). Body cameras is a solution that is extremely considered and is already taking some effect. Moreover, research shows that body cameras can keep tense police encounters calm, help behavior of both the officer and civilian, and the footage that comes from the cameras can serve as evidence ( “Should Police Wear” 7). Research proves that body cameras can have an effect on police brutality and will help fix the issue. However, there are other techniques that can possibly help fix the issue such as training. “An officer also needs training on dealing with community members in nonthreatening ways and better communication skills” ( “Police Need Better” 1). Training will help officers work on making police encounters less tense and make sure excessive force is not a go to. Lastly, according to analysts, changing hiring practices in the law enforcement could make sure that unbiased officers that are focused on being close to all communities could help lower the amount of police brutality cases (“Police Need Better” 2). If police departments really focused on an officer’s beliefs involving the topics of race or religion, officers that are not willing to be fair to all would not be hired and in turn prevent more police brutality cases from happening. To conclude, officers wearing body cameras and police departments changing hiring practices could help stop more police brutality cases from

“We’re not anti-police, we’re anti-police brutality,” said Al Sharpton. It has to be understood that people fighting for justice are not against the police, they are against police brutality. Many cases that involve police using excessive force on civilians are occurring. There is not evidence being recorded because either officers do not have their body cameras or they are not turning them on. Innocent police officers and also innocent civilians are being charged guilty without proof of what actually happened in the encounter. Some officers are using their authority to pin everything on the civilian by using fake eyewitnesses and testimonies. Because of this, the public is having a hard time trusting authorities. It should be mandatory for police officers to have body cameras because it eliminates chances of them using excessive force, clears the confusion, and helps gain the public’s trust in them.

In conclusion, body cameras should be used by all police officers, because they help police and citizens behave better, they help court cases, and they can justify the use of lethal force. In America it should be mandatory for every police officer to have some kind of surveillance filming them on the job to help keep us citizens safe, and keep our police

Police brutality is a huge problem in America nowadays. There have been many cases where police officers abused their positions. In 2014 was a case about Michael Browns an African-American citizen that was killed by a police officer in Ferguson. In this case there were a lot of witnesses due to the lack of good evidence and trustful testimonies. This wouldn’t happen if the police officer had had a body camera. Police stations in all the states should required officers to wear body cameras to prevent injustices. Americans overwhelming support (92%) requiring police officers wear body cameras that would record video of their interactions. Moreover fully 6 in 10 “strongly support” such proposal (Ekins).

At times, in investigation there can be confusion. This is because often suspects, witnesses, and police officers have different stories, but who is telling the truth? Body cameras can make it faster and easier to find out. In Source one, 'Political Cartoon', there is a drawing of a witness, a suspect, and a police officer all swearing that they "Always tell the truth". Now, in most cases the witness and the police officer have similar stories while the suspect has an entirely different one. This can make it easier to investigate, while in other cases it may be a bit more complex. If the witness, suspect, and police officers all have completely different stories this is where investigation will most likely be harder and take longer. However, if police officers are required to use body cameras, video footage can be played back to

There has been a growing number of cases in which police killings of unarmed people have drawn national attention. For years, there has been reports of police brutality in multiple cities across the nation. Subsequently, societies faith in the police to do their job without abusing their power of authority is deteriorating. As a result, officers are reluctant to do their job because of the criticism they endure everyday. The society and officers feel threatened by each other. In order to restore the support and trust in the police to do their job proactively would be body cameras. Some people advocate body cameras, others disagree but the cameras would be beneficial to society, the police department, and the judicial system.

Body cameras can be the difference between innocent and guilty. Due to the outbreak of reports of police brutality, many departments have turned to body cameras to help eliminate this concern. Despite arguments against body cameras it is clear that they will keep everyone in check. Perhaps if every officer in the U.S. wore a body camera everyone would behave like they should and protect everyone. All police officers should wear body cameras while on duty because body cameras protect the officer, the public, and keep officers accountable.

Over the past year there have been many situations between police officers and civilians that we don’t exactly know what happened because it someone’s word over another. In August 2014, an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, was shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Some witnesses confirmed the police officer’s claim that he shot the teenager under self defense. While others claimed that the victim posed no threat to the officer and that the shooting was uncalled for. The result of this was that the police officer wasn’t charged with a crime. If that officer had been wearing a body camera, while he was on duty, we could see with our own eyes if Michael Brown was threatening to the officer or if the shooting was unjustified. Police officers should wear body cameras while on duty because the cameras would hold police accountable to their actions, prevent violence, and would improve the public’s perspective on police officers.

Body cameras on police would make it to where police could not be falsely accused of police brutality. There has been many news reports on police brutality and some are true, however some are also false. When an officer

Could be evidence for cases so the jury can see what happened exactly. It can help protect police departments and the officers. According to News Max “A 2013 University of Cambridge study found that when police wear body cameras, both police and respondents are less likely to use violence. The study indicated a drop in use of force by more than a 50 percent. Body cameras could thus make the

After the fatal shooting of Michael Brown and many other unarmed citizens, the call for all police to carry body cameras has intensified. Police Cameras are a well debated topic within the US. Many police stations have experimented with cameras, or have entertained the idea of. Many people call for police to have some version of recording devices.

For every 1,000 people killed by a police officer, only 1 officer is convicted of crime. The majority of these deadly confrontations are aimed at people of color. Due to the high number of deaths, this may lead to a commonly asked question, what happened? Cops should be required to wear body cameras so that if anything happens while the officer is on duty, the event will be caught on camera.

In the aftermath of the killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York by police officers, many people are calling for officers to be required to wear body cameras (Santora and Nikita). While some may disagree, body cameras are useful and should be worn by all police officers. This is because they prevent violence with both cops and respondents, and provide evidence for certain cases. Body cameras can prevent violence among police officers and respondents (Baum), and is one reason why all police officers should wear body cameras. Recently, police brutality has become a major concern for communities.

In order to decrease police brutality and stop abuse of power there is a solution that can be set for both the Law Enforcement and the community. Wearing body cameras is ideal, for example, in Rialto, California, the police department has set an experiment to wear these body cameras and the results were rather shocking. The abuse of “force” or power by police went down by 59% and police complaints down to 88%. ("If Ferguson Officer Wore a Camera: Our View.")

Over the past years, the public and police have not seen eye to eye. Recently, lots of disputes between the police and public have been occurring because there is confusion between their view points. A simple solution for this problem is having police use body cameras so that the public may feel safer knowing that when interacting with police, it is being recorded and can be looked back on in future situations, if needed.