Traffic Camera Monitoring Systems: Safety vs Privicy Essay

Over the last few years there has been much controversy leading up to the need for law enforcement officers to wear body cameras. This is not only for citizens but also for the officers’ protection. With so much debate regarding police brutality and excessive force body cameras are quickly on the rise. New technology is giving police on a state and federal level a new opportunity to cut back on some of the allegations and negativity we have seen in the last few years. On the other hand it is giving citizens all over the country the safety they should feel when being approached by law enforcement. Our technology has improved significantly over the years and this seems to be something that will benefit everyone.

red-light safety cameras increased 135%.” (“Red-Light Running Dangers”) When the conversation of whether to have red light cameras, or not to have red light cameras arises, human fatalities should without a doubt be a top consideration. Especially when a study performed during 2011 by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that red light cameras had lowered

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

Do traffic signals make a difference when drivers are conducting their vehicles? In U.K. the roads have less signs and are smaller roads than in the United States. The United States has great amounts of traffic signals and symbols all over the road to make the driver more aware. In the U.K. accidents do occur but not that often has in the United States. In the Unites States every second there is huge amounts of accidents going on over the nation. John Staddon in his magazine article “Distracting Miss Daisy” tries to persuade that traffic control is making traffic more dangerous because we do not pay attention to the road, but to the signals.

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.

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).

The individuals with wide diversity have different requirements. They are facing many difficulties due to this management system. 2 Among them, the Red Light camera is one most controversial issue of the local and state governments. The controversy of the red light camera between local and state government was started from early 2000’s and is still continuing. Similarly, the committee of Texas voted 8 out of 22 approving a bill to ban the authorization of Red Light’s contract. Likewise, the major controversial topic in Austin and Dallas is about the Red light camera. In addition, the main purpose of keeping Red Light camera was to prevent the possible road accident. But the Red Light camera didn’t provide the strong witness in identifying the drivers. Therefore, the State government didn’t find it

There is no doubt that red-light cameras have gained increasing popularity among local municipalities following Florida’s 2010 decision allowing local governments to install them. The city of Lakeland elected to install nine additional cameras in just the past three years alone (Dunkelberger). Revenue and citations are not the only things that red-light cameras are generating; more and more citizens and legislators are sparking the news and interest of the media regarding the constitutionality of red-light cameras. Last year Hernando County Judge, Donald E. Scaglione, issued a statement calling the laws surrounding red-light camera violations "vague (and) arbitrary and capricious." While red light camera supporters argue that the cameras make intersections much safer, others insist that constitutional rights are being blatantly violated by state and local government. Most Americans agree that intersections and roadways need to be made safer, but at what cost?

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).

The familiarity of such cases is evidence to believe that one case or even many cases of the same caliber did not prompt the decision to fund police body cameras alone but a more influential reason can explain the decision for body cameras. A state of field assessment conducted by the police reform revealed that various forms of technology is being adapted or developed for law enforcement purposes, and there are many specific technologies, both current and emerging, that can benefit law enforcement. The theory that can best explain new emerging technologies that has power to influence political decisions can best be explained by the new media

Marfin stated the different issues presented for the department, such as the individual privacy and cost as she discussed UTPD’s process of implementing this technology. She emphasized this by stating “UTPD began testing different versions of body cameras two years ago, but the implementation of the technology took many years to complete” (par.9). Although the time and cost of the body-cameras brought issues to the department the author emphasizes that UTPD’s main goal is to build trust between the community and the police officers to ensure the community’s safety. Therefore, they made sure to invest in their safety by enforcing body cameras on the officers as explained in the article, ““This is something we believe is important to the UT community and to UTPD,” UTPD Chief David Carter said. “This is something to ensure that people have confidence and trust when it comes to our department.”” (par. 3). Throughout the article the cost of the cameras is highlighted informing how the technology works and what exactly it does to preserve the safety in the community. She emphasizes this statement by saying

With the increasing emergence of traffic cameras around the nation, there has emerged a debate about whether the cameras are effectively functioning to keep drivers safe or whether they are just another source of revenue for cites. Facts have proven that the purpose for the traffic cameras is simply generating more money for the cities. The estimated amount of money that the city of Denver will be making in 2011 from these cameras (Kaminsky)—excluding the ones recently put up—a grand estimation total of seven million dollars… “According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety more than 550 communities in the United States use red light cameras.” (Urie) Research shows how the cameras are not improving safety for drivers, and for

Red light running is a serious issue in the United States. According to T. Walden and B. Bochner (2011), it is estimated these violations result in over 100,000 accidents and 1,000 fatalities each year. The economic impact is assessed to be over $14 billion dollars annually (“Effectiveness of Red Light Cameras-Texas Statewide Evaluation,” p. 30). Typical costs include items such as property damage, medical expenses, response expenditures, etc. The monetary costs are significant, but the loss of life is incalculable. N. Elminity and E. Radwan (2008) state that drivers who run red lights are the primary cause of high-speed angular collisions at intersections (“Issues Related to Red-Light Camera Enforcement Systems,” p. 32). RLCs are an attempt to increase safety and reduce risk at problematic intersections in order to mitigate these costs.

Traffic accidents occur mainly at intersections. There are accidents seen along a street, but the majority are on intersections due to people beating the red light, drunk

Distracting driving is a common occurrence with modern day drivers. Due to technological advances making electronics so easy to use on the go, many find themselves spending more time looking at their cell phone or navigation system than they do looking at the road. According to the NHTSA, distracted driving claimed the lives of 3,477 people in 2015 alone. Texting and driving is a common distraction, especially when it comes to the younger generation of drivers. Young drivers are oblivious to the dangers of what seems like such a harmless act. Studies have shown that one 1 in 4 accidents are caused by texting and driving. The number of people injured from distracted drivers in 2015 was 391,000. Over half of the nation’s car accidents are a result of texting and driving. Whereas drinking and driving may kill more people, the leading cause of car accidents is in fact texting and driving.