Police Body Cameras, also known as Body Worn Videos, have been central in a heated debate surrounding an aggressive and increasingly militarized police force, that through misconduct and controversy has lost the trust of the American people. These body cameras have the ability to rebuild this trust by providing accountability and training to the officers as well as crucial evidence for the courts. In the summer of 2014 a young man by the name of Michael Brown was shot down while fleeing arrest in Ferguson, Mo. The police officer, Darren Wilson, would not stand trial for his actions due to conflicting testimony and a lack of evidence against him.
Police body cameras are a necessity for the protection of the perpetrator from an officer that is using excessive force to get him or her to calm down and obey orders. People need to feel safe and should not feel afraid of the cops when they are doing nothing wrong, by using body cameras everyone is and feels
Body cameras have potential to help, even though they have a few flaws. Police behavior could greatly improve with the assistance of body cameras. The body cameras could be a magnificent idea and could improve the public's view on police officers, as long as they are utilized responsibly. Even though they are a good idea, police cameras do have a few disadvantages that cannot be overlooked. Police body cameras are a respectable idea, and they would improve the process of arrests, allow civilians to see the good in officers, and keep officers responsible and
Additionally, it will protect officers from any false accusations. Secondly, having the cameras will instill trust. On several occasions, people have been killed by officers and the community started to lose trust in them. Now with a camera
In addition to helping the public with the shootings and unnecessary death caused by police, the body cams will have the cops to blame be fired. This will also help regain trust between the police and citizens. When the officers who are on duty know that the camera is on, then they will think ahead about their own future, their career. Also, the officers will think twice about the other person as well. After researching about body cameras, and how the technology can help the authorities, and citizens.
Phyllice Holliday Ms.Cooney English CP10 30 October 2017 Police Body Cameras Anthony loved to sell candy and toys to the kids in and out of his neighborhood. One evening he was on his way to the store to stock back up on candy and toys, when a police officer stopped him and asked him questions. Anthony merely kept walking because his mom told him to come straight home and don’t talk to anyone. At that point the officer yelled “Hey stop right there, and put your hands up”.
We can use them for money, messaging, phone calls, and any type of social media. We can be tracked by the government at any time even if our phones are off. Cameras can also track you down, knowing that you are being watched every second of the day can be scary. In the article “Long Beach Police to use 400 Cameras Citywide to Fight Crime,” states that a few dozen cameras are around the community. Even private cameras are being set up.
Speech Outline Title: Body Cameras I. Introduction Attention-getter: Body cameras were used because of Michael Brown’s death and police misconduct. B. Significance Body cameras may increase police accountability and protect them from accusations. C. Credibility: My interest in this topic is due to the latest deadly encounters with police officers and improving the communities’ safety.
Many citizens would say that no eyewitness would come forward if they know they are being filmed fearing public exposure. Over a period of twelve months, police officers were randomly selective and assigned to wear high definition police body cameras. The all nominally defined use of force, both necessary and unnecessary. It was found that during the twelve months, the number of complaints filed against police officers dropped to point seven percent per one thousand police officers from the initial sixty-point six percent (Ariel, Barak 2018). Not only did complaints drop, but the unsolved cases also dropped.
Many cities in the United States want to initiate a British-style system. An example of British-style CCTV is in London, where there are around 150,000 cameras and the average civilian is caught three hundred times a day on these cameras (Crime and Criminals, 2010). Even though people are on camera this many times a day it has no effect on the amount of crime in the area. Studies done to test the crime fighting capabilities of these cameras have shown almost no effect on crime rate. In the forty-six studies done by the British Home Office showed that the cameras had no effect on the crime rate in troubled areas.
One of the biggest concerns of police departments is the cost of implementing cameras and, more importantly, storing the video footage. According to “The Promise and Pitfalls of Cops and Cameras,” the cost of video storage could be as high as $300,000 a year, depending on the duration of time the footage is kept. Video footage is usually stored on the department server for 30-60 days, but it can be even longer if this footage is used in a criminal or disciplinary case; sometimes it is kept forever (Elinson and Frosch). That, combined with the initial cost of the cameras and the maintenance, adds up to tremendous amounts of money that some police departments are just not willing to spend. Another issue people have with body cameras is that they believe that the cameras would be a breach of privacy.
Body cameras on law enforcement officers can by far be one of the best ways to slow down or even stop law enforcement officer’s misconduct in the field by providing a bird’s eye view of the law enforcement officer’s encounters with the public in the community they have sworn to protect. Body cameras can be a deterrent and possibly make law enforcement officers and the citizens think very hard before acting in an inappropriate manner because they know they are being recorded and these recording can be used as evidence in a court of
Without the videos proving a victim to be innocent, these police would be walking among us as killers, disguised as our protectors. When officers and citizens are aware that their behavior is being monitored, both parties have an immediate tendency to behave accordingly. “The results of this study suggest that this increase in self awareness leads to more positive outcomes in police-citizen interaction,” (Wile, 2015). The government is losing money by not subjecting police to wear body cameras. Police misconduct expenditure costs $1.8 billion annually, while the cost to supply police with body cameras across the nation only ranges up to $20
Personally, I feel there are a lot of advantages and disadvantages of police body cameras. The main advantage would be a clear view of what the officer is looking at. Often in a lot of the incidents we see and hear about, we only get to see one side of the story. Or in other words, the footage the person wants you to see. With body cameras we can see exactly what happened as soon as the officer steps out of the vehicle and/or approaches the individuals.
Having police wear cameras can help everyone. It can help police by either falsely accusing them of police
