Why Do Courts Use Police 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

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.

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.

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.

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

a few years now, police brutality has become an extremely controversial topic and has raised many debates and questions about law enforcement and civilians. Police brutality has been common for decades. However after the death of African Americans such as Michael Brown, Alton Sterling, and Philando Castile, many other African Americans have rose up in protest and anger. The anger stems from these men dying at the hands of police which the civilians believe they died from situation that should have been handled differently. Cases like these have caused a major divide with African Americans and law enforcement. Many people wonder where the relationship between the two went wrong and how police brutality became such a big issue that seems impossible

A fairly common recommendation for reducing police misconduct to increase use of body cameras. By recording police-citizen encounters, police supervisors, judges, reporters, and others can get objective evidence of what happened instead of self serving hearsay. Body cameras have been the talk of many police departments among the United States. But not everyone has tried it out or used it yet, as we can see. Body cameras should be used because citizens are being innocently killed by police, officers are being falsely accused of wrongdoing, and it allows for physical proof of evidence.

    The United States criminal justice system has been having major issues with police brutality recently. According to The Washington Post, In 2015 alone almost one thousand people were shot and killed by the police. This statistic is staggering as it shows how much deadly force is being inflicted on the public. The police brutality is not only shootings as in many cases the police actions are justified in court, however, there has been recent outrage over police being overly aggressive and abusive towards the public; specifically with the African American community. This has sparked mass protest and in extreme cases riot have broken out. The public has become fed up with the police getting off with little to not punishment for their crimes due to most of the evidence being testimonies. Body cameras are the glaring solution to this problem. The give insight into what really happened during an altercation where there was an officer related shooting that left a young man dead. An example of this is a recent event in Baltimore saw a man arrested on drug charges and got held in jail for months. However the arresting officer was wearing a body camera. Police body cameras start to record for the previous thirty seconds prior to activation. When the footage was reviewed it saw the officer plant evidence at the scene to incriminate the suspect. This led to the release of the accused suspect and the officers are under review (Hendry, E. R., & Barajas, J., 2017, para. 4). Now if the arresting officer did not have that body camera an innocent man would be in jail on drug charges that he had nothing to do with. These are situations that could be happening more than the

The term “Police Officer” by definition is [1]“ :a person whose job is to enforce laws, investigate crimes, and make arrests”.[1] For such a straight-forward position there is quite a massive amount of stigma attached to the title. Police officers are supposed to be seen has community heroes or helpers, but it seems as the year 2016 continues the general public have manifested a resentful standing towards the law enforcement system. There are many factors that play into these emotions, but the reoccurring problem is the presence of police brutality.

Imagine if every police officer in the United States had to be required to wear body cameras. The questioning between officer Darren Wilson and Mike Brown could have been solved if a body camera could have captured the incident. This can increase the better outcomes of police officers and their job. People will be able to see everything that happens through the camera 's lens. How do you feel about body cameras being worn? Even though some people believe police officers should not have to wear body cameras, I believe that police officers should be required to wear body cams at all times on duty because it creates more evidence in cases, enforces officers to abide by the laws,and builds trust with the community.

It is hard for judges to make a decision when both sides present a different story in front of them. Recently there was a case where the side of the victim and the of the police officer had different stories to tell. This case which had occurred in Chicago will prove one of my reasons of why police officers should wear body cameras. The case involved five police officers who had swore under the oath that they had pulled over a suspect because he had failed to use his turn signal. "In court one the officer testified that when he asked the driver for his license and registration, he smelled marijuana and directed the suspect to leave the car and stand by the trunk as the vehicle was searched"(Scheindlin, 2015). During this search the officer

These would make it much harder for courts to favor one side since the evidence would be right there. With the use of body cameras, police would not be able to hide behind shady stories from witnesses. Furthermore, a study has been done on how body cameras effect on police. One statistic showed that the use of force by police officers went down by 50% (Ariel) and another survey was done to show that 85% of officers said that body cameras would reduce false claims (Wyllie). There doesn’t seem to be any down sides to body cameras. Many officers seem to want them and the use of force went down. Body cameras would help to make sure there is less bias in the police force and the

Police killed at least 308 african american people in the U.S. in 2016. Where are the other ethnic groups? Most people will assume that police are only brutal towards african american people when truly that is not the case. There have been other occurrences of this with whites, Asians, Latinos, etc, but media never focuses on that. People think this can be solved if police wear body cameras, but there is always the possibility of someone editing the video or the officer being at a weird angle and missing something important. Media is helpful in spreading awareness of police violence but, we never know what truly happened because of bias media changing stories and making reality seem worse than it really is.

Police officers should wear the body camera because they can view the video of footage of their encounters before writing their incidents reports. Police officers have been killing innocent people these days mostly black/African Americans, if they wear or use there body camera it can and will show what the police officer really have done. Judges and also lawyers can use the body camera video

I strongly agree that police officers should wear body cameras.The use of body cameras should reduce the force by police officers and lessen the complaints by citizens against the police.In general body camera footage should reduce dishonesty in incident reports.For too long, illegal use of force by police officers has been shrouded from public view by means of dishonest reporting. The use of body cameras should also make police officers want to carry themselves better.It should provide officers with a platform for reflection, self criticism and self improvement.Video footage will provide police officers with a potent tool for reliable supervision.Exposure to the video footage will almost certainly enable them to provide richer and more