Arguments Against Police Brutality

The national opinion of police officers has gradually shifted from one of deference and prestige into one of public suspicion and fear. Police brutality and misconduct against American civilians are the catalysts of this shift, transforming a once highly-revered group into a highly-feared one. As the number of police cruelty occurrences continues to rise, so does the nation’s distrust of police. Citizens have begun to feel threatened by the very men and women in blue who are supposed to be neutralizing threats, not becoming them. Americans are calling for the end of this nationwide epidemic of police misconduct and are refusing to cower in terror from the officers who are supposed to “value human life and maintain a higher standard of integrity

Union activists, Vietnam War protesters, and members of the Civil Rights Movement are all parties that have been victims of police brutality. (“Community Accountability, Minority Threat, And Police Brutality: An Examination Of Civil Rights Criminal Complaints”, 2006). These groups were practicing the rights granted to them by the Constitution, but were still beaten, shot, and stripped of their basic human rights. The horrifying and abominable acts of past decades seem to have reemerged, as evidenced by the police-involved deaths of Eric Garner, Walter Scott, Sandra Bland, and Michael Brown. Journalist Feliks Garcia puts it best in his statement, “Police brutality is modern lynching.” (Feliks Garcia, The Daily Dot, 2015). The utilization of a police body-mounted camera system would make police less likely to abuse civilians, who in some cases have not been charged with a crime, because the officers know that their potential exploitations will be recorded. When fewer civilians are abused and mistreated by police officers, the national opinion of officers will improve and enhance officer-civilian relationships. The controversy over police body cameras may also have an impact on the upcoming presidential election. All of the White House hopefuls likely will have to take a stand on this issue, which may influence the electorate. The

From Baltimore to Waller County, Texas, calls for action have been for the most part unanswered. To end the rampant mistreatment and transgressions carried out by the people in blue who are supposed to keep us safe, police body-mounted cameras need to become a component of all police departments. Multiple studies have proven that these body cameras produce a decrease in claims against police for misconduct and an increase in the amount of Americans who feel they can trust and are protected by officers. When an officer wears a body-mounted camera, he or she assumes the accountability of their actions; the officer is discouraged from cruelty and wrongdoings when they realize that these actions will be recorded and have consequences. Police body-mounted cameras are a solid investment that do not impede the officer from doing his or her job, but will answer the call to end officers’ abuse of power in