Should Police Officers Wear Body Cameras

The Proof is in the Footage

Each day, there are police officers around the country who are putting their lives on the line by protecting and serving the public. These men and women are continuously working to improve the safety and well being of communities throughout the United States. Plenty of pressure is put on officers to perform their jobs to the best of their abilities; with the use of body cameras they are able to do just that. Police officers should wear body cameras because it will not only aid in cases against officers, but also encourage correct behavior, and improve the safety of both the public and the officers themselves.

There are many people, including police officers, that are acquitted each year because there

Now there are times that an officer’s use of force is necessary, whether the officer feels that his or her own life is at risk, or the public’s lives are in danger. But for the situations where the arresting officer is at fault and is not reprimanded due to the fact that there is not enough evidence of the incident, there is a need for another set of eyes. If officers were to wear portable body cameras, this would help deter “bad cops” from using excessive force on individuals that do not deserve it because the officers are being recorded at all times (Segan 2). Using body cameras will cause good behavior to come naturally for police officers around the country, and turning on the camera is the first step. Some departments that already have cameras in the field are considering stricter penalties for officers who do not turn on their cameras (Kauffman 1). These penalties could include pay dock and even suspension (Kauffman 1). A study was conducted on the Rialto, California police departments from 2012 to 2013 and showed the potential of body cameras (Schiff 2). The department had an 88 percent reduction in complaints against their officers with 50 percent of them wearing cameras (Schiff 2). And there are many other departments showing these improvements with the use of cameras. A high percentage

The first counterargument to the use of body cameras is that there will not be enough funding for the cameras. The thing is, the Department of Justice already provides equipment and financial support to law enforcement across the country, so a portion of these spendings could be used to provide for portable cameras (Schiff 1). It is prohibited for departments to purchase body cameras, so they need to assistance of the government to pay for them. But if the United States government was able to contribute more, there would most likely be more police officers equipped with body cameras across the country.

Police officers should wear body cameras because it will not only encourage correct behavior, but also aid in cases of police brutality, improve the safety of both the public and the officers themselves, and also enhance relationships between police and the