The Pros And Cons Of Police Body Cameras

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Police worn body cameras are a very big part of policing now, they are increasingly being shown on the media to show that police are attempting to improve the relationships between the public and police. Police body cameras have been and will continue to be a controversial topic in policing because of the issues with privacy laws and how everyone stopped by police will be recorded. In this paper, it will discuss more in depth about the positives and negatives of police worn body cameras and a conclusion from the evidence collected.

The use of body cameras in policing has been around since the early 2000’s, but as of late police body cameras have become increasingly implemented over the last couple years, but these …show more content…

According to Crow, Snyder, Crichlow and Smykla (2017), the “Accountability Model” which is where citizens hold the police accountable for making them feel safe, and this model could be more effective now that BWCS are being involved in everyday policing. This becomes truer because the public are aware that the police have the cameras on them at all times, so they feel less threatened by the police (Crow, Snyder, Crichlow & Smykla, 2017). Also, BWCs will make police officers more accountable for their actions because their superiors could watch their tapes, and if their superiors find that they might be abusing their powers it could end up leading to possible termination (Gaub, Choate, Todak, Katz, White, …show more content…

This has been a huge problem with police and citizens for decades with the mistrust of police, especially in urban areas where there is a lot of racial tensions. And according to Ariel, Farrar, and Sutherland (2014), theorized that since there is that “big brother” concept with someone always overlooking the police and citizens, which lead to police tending to be more civil and try to be less aggressive. Also, the citizens tend to be me more respectful and comply more to police when the police officers show more respect to the citizens during their interactions. Otu, (2016), also theorized that the quality of policing builds a better relationship with citizens and police which reduces the need of excessive force. BWCs also may deter potential offenders who don’t want to be arrested when there is clear evidence against them that they cannot dispute (Ariel, Farrar & Sutherland,