The Importance Of Body Cameras

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.

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.

There has been a lot of talk lately in the news about police body cameras. Some people agree that body cameras should be used by all police officers, while others disagree and believe that they shouldn’t be used at all. There are some cons to having body cameras but all of the pros outweigh it. Police body cameras should be used in all towns no matter how small because the people will act less aggressive towards officers, they provide truthful evidence that cannot be altered with, and the videos can be stored so if something were to happen, they could be brought up and checked as sort of like a surveillance device.

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.

With so many incidents occurring between law enforcement and civilians, it’s about time we have our officers wear body cameras. Law enforcement wants to use body cameras, many politicians are in favor for them, Civil-rights groups are advocating them, and communities that already have a strong police presence in their neighborhoods are requesting that the police get cameras now. With the uproar of law enforcement and the death of many black American’s, body cameras can be very useful. There is always that missing link when trying to put these horrible moments back together. Far too many times we end up with the suspect dead and only get one side of the story. With the use of body cameras, we can now get more insight on the events that happen (Boyd, 2015).

“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.

Did you ever think how life would be if police officers had body cameras?. Do you think all this would have happened if these unarmed African Americans weren’t shot?. Ever since these unarmed African Americans were shot, this country has been getting out of hand, now there's rioting on the streets people are breaking into stores stealing things. Things are getting out of hand so much violence they had to bring the national guard to come protect us. Thank god things died down violence was stopped on the streets because they saw that it was not going no where, so they started actually peaceful protesting which we were trying to do but things got out of hand.

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

Police body cameras have been debated for many years. Many people have concerns about them, whether they are invading the people’s right to privacy or are they really going to help officer’s wright up the incident with the full and honest truth. First and foremost I believe that body cameras should be used as a tool to provide evidence at the time of the incident. As stated early on in the story black young boy that was unarmed got shot up in a shower of bullets, and the grand jury decided not to indict the officer and protest erupted throughout the country. This is one of the reasons Police Body Cameras should be used for.

Should we trust words the words of policer officers or video evidence? The use of body cameras when police encounter an incident is crucial. The cameras hold vital information that happened at the scene and can be used as evidence. They will help resolve the issues of officers lying about what really happened during their situations because words (testimonies) are not as trustworthy as video evidence. Body cameras should be mandatory for all police officers that are on duty and need to be turned on during all calls, for all circumstances.

I hope I’m reading the question correctly. I agree with what Detective Alfred Parra Jr. wrote in his Law Officer article (2013), Post-Incident Video Viewing Policy, which is that officers should be given the option to review their video. His opinion is based on the many different circumstances that officers are faced with.

Body cameras give more wide imaging than just having patrol car cameras. (“ 4 reasons…”) Having two sources to catch everything on cameras are a better suggestion. Cameras can't go away from the patrol car like body cameras can. The body cameras are attached to the officers at all time, and are running at all times. You don't have to every time you are in a sticky situation to worry about turning your cameras on. Patrol cameras don't always point to the

Some feel that is not necessary for police to wear cameras because self-defense does not need to be justified. The assumption is that police officers are doing their job in an honest and fair way is enough for some. It does need to be taken into consideration that the ideal police officers are serving for the public and that their intentions

Body cameras should be required to prevent uncalled for violence from police and or the public. “ police killings of unarmed black men and boys that did not lead to criminal charges” “Michael Brown was hot and killed by officer Darren Wilson….some eyewitness accounts have said that brown was surrendering and had his hands up….other eyewitnesses have said Brown had his hands only waist-high and was head down, charging at Wilson when Wilson fired. Showing how if there was a body camera there would not be two sides to the story the full truth would be revealed . “ if Wilson had been wearing a body-worn camera, many of these questions in this case could have been answered.”

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”(US Const. 1776). Thomas Jefferson wrote this in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence and these words are by far the most powerful and influential words in United States history. As America we need to live up to our words, nearly 60 years have gone by and we are still dealing with the widespread of violence against people of color. I believe the body-cam is the most effective and efficient way of knowing the truth. Enforcing stronger regulations to wearing the body-cam and requiring all police agencies to wear them. We the people have the right to know evidence if in your name, damaging footage or not releasing footage is not an option especially if the arrest end up in death by either the officer or the suspect.