In 2015, there was 1,218 citizens killed by police and for the last two years has remained in the ballpark with 1,163 killed in 2016, and currently 964 killed this year. These numbers are not only shocking but a bigger problem remains that a portion of these justified homicides were a result of excessive use of force. While there is no universally agreed upon definition, US Legal defines it as, “the use of force greater than that which a reasonable and prudent law enforcement officer would use under the circumstances.” Killings as a result of excessive force has caused an uproar especially in minority communities, as they have been the most affected. With a high number of police homicides and cases of excessive force increasing, there needs to be a preventative measure taken in the form of body cameras. This can not only help the …show more content…
Body cameras have shown many positive results one of which is the reduction in complaints and related expenses. There have been many studies performed on the idea of body cameras, with the results speaking for themselves. In 2012, a study conducted by the Rialto police department found that with officers who wore body cameras there was a 88% decrease in officer complaints. Not to mention, a reduction of 60% in officer use of force over the course of a year; while, the shifts without cameras experienced twice as many use of force incidents. This department is not the only one seeing positive results, a study performed in Arizona, conducted by both the Mesa Police Department and Arizona State University had similar findings. In which, officers without body cameras had almost three times the