Why Police Should Carry Body Cameras

Police brutality is one of the most serious and divisive human rights violations in the United States and it occurs in every community. The job of a police officer is to maintain public order, prevent, and detect crime. They are engaged in a dangerous and stressful occupation that can involve violent situations that must be controlled. In many of these confrontations with the public it may become necessary for the police to administer force to take control of a situation. Sometimes this force takes the form of hand to hand combat with a suspect who resists being arrested. Not all police officers in communities are good cops. At least once a year the news is covering a story about a person

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.

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

Many departments have been forced to change how they patrol their streets and how they interact with citizens. One of the precautionary methods that the government took was to provide funding to police departments that would go toward officers being issued body cameras. The Justice Department in fact his year provided $17 million dollars to police departments for body cameras. As stated by Attorney General Loretta Lynch "Body-worn cameras hold tremendous promise for enhancing transparency, promoting accountability and advancing public safety for law enforcement officers and the communities they serve,.. (Jackson,

Twenty five percent of the nation's police forces have some sort of body cameras. Every day people are saying they are not believable. We need to stand together to make everyone have them. The police need to wear body cameras for civilians safety and to show evidence to prove the police are doing there job.

In the past couple years the media has been focusing a lot of its attention on police officers. Sadly they make police officers out to be horrible people who act solely on their hatred for certain races, but in reality police officers are there for the safety of the citizens. In any profession there will be people who are there for the wrong reasons, and this is true for police officers as well. Although most police officers focus on the safety and wellbeing of the citizens, some police officers are in for their own selfish and personal reasons. As a result they act immoral and unethical. These are what the media calls bad cops. Because of the misconduct of a few police officers, the public now proposes police officers wear body cameras. The use of body cameras proves to be a valuable asset in the incrimination of justice because of its many benefits, few downsides, and overall public approval.

In todays society, American citizens are unpleased with the law enforcement officers. These officers are here protecting the people of America, and to get the people doing the wrong things off the street so the rest of the people can be safe. In the past few months, there have been shootings of American citizens, and shootings of law enforcement officers. The people of society are only seeing the bad side of police officers, and never understand the whole story when needed to be heard. As the internet continues to expand, the promises it makes is beyond human understanding (Carr 56). The internet and television are the most complex form of technology, and only portray the bad side of cops. “The idea of multimedia is to combine text, sound, and pictures in a single package that you browse on screen” (Gelernter 97). The idea of body cameras put in the uniforms of the law enforcement officers has been talked about, so that everyone can see the exact truth of the situation. The idea of body cameras for the law enforcement officers has it benefits and drawbacks. I think having the body cameras will greatly benefit the law enforcement officers in society today and in the future.

In the article, “Body Cameras For US Police Officers: Are The Programs Effective?”, it talks about a study done where body cameras are integrated in these specific police departments. “The report concluded there is ‘little evidence regarding most of the perceived benefits and drawbacks of the technology.’ White said not much has changed in the six months since the study was published” (Ross). However, most of these articles don’t give specific enough details to why body cameras are not effective, proving this to be a lackluster claim. Others say the cameras are very expensive.

Khristian, you have given me some valid point in regards to the body camera being effective in law enforcement. By the same token, I do agree that the body camera has made a major impact in the way our law enforcement and correction officer are doing their job. In our line of work we are faced with many challenges and most of it is making sure that we do not violate anyone's rights. Nevertheless, the recording of the daily activities that officers encounter can be used as a training tool for the new cadet to view in their training. The footage of the body camera can also be used to determine the outcome of an arrest that leads to a major conflict that needs some answer of what transpired in the line of duty. I have enjoyed your viewpoint in

Body camera for police officers might be expensive but what is money to the deaths of innocent lives along with clearing misunderstandings for future citizens who waste their times and lives in jail for something they didn’t do and was falsely accused of doing. Having body camera for officers would improve many things drastically such as accountability, transparency, improve social image, and provide evidence of decisions made by officers in intense situations. Some might say that having police officers wearing body camera might invade their privacy but in reality the things they do behind the scene are the source of problem; if they wore body cameras then it would increase accountability, prevent violence, and improve the public views towards

Like I said, body cameras are already being bought for police departments as standard gear. According to Dustin Volz’s article, “Police Body Cameras Are Already Facing Police Skeptics”, companies like Taser and Veivu sell these cameras for about $200, plus another $55 for

This is an occurring issue, so it makes sense that so many political actors would be involved. This leads legislative actors, executive authority, the courts, and a stakeholder to be involved in the topic. Every political actor has some positive aspects, however some of the actors don’t completely agree with what the government is conducting. To start, President Barack Obama and senator Tom Coburn are some of the legislature actors who are intensely politically involved. President Obama is an active supporter of putting cameras on police officer’s uniforms. The government, with the support of President Obama, has funded about 263 million to 500,000 police officers with these body cameras. Now, this is just the beginning stage, but the President

In order to show the public safety purpose of police body cameras a policy statement detailing the public safety purposes and the goal of using police body cameras was created, called CONOPS . NIJ, NIST, and the FBI developed a table that lists operating characteristics and associated functionality descriptions based on existing technical sources about the criminal justice systems use of video. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a comprehensive clearinghouse for practitioners that are interested in implementing a police body camera program. President Obama proposed an investment plan of two hundred and sixty three million dollars into policing, which includes more training with the body cameras and resources, with seventy five million dollars going to the body