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The Pros And Cons Of Police Body Cameras

511 Words3 Pages

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. This case became the perfect example of why these cameras are necessary, the footage obtained from …show more content…

The first thing to consider is that cameras do not eliminate bias and multiple interpretations of the footage based on the viewer. As the footage will only show the situation from the first person viewpoint of the officer leading to a specific framing of the event. This could become a major concern during court trials considering that reliance on video recordings for evidence will greatly increase as body cameras become more standard in the police force. This will create a need for a documented chain of custody and secure storing for possibly hundreds of hours of footage recorded daily. That will need to be sorted, saved, or deleted as necessary. Possibly infringing on the public's expectation of privacy. We expect to be watched by security cameras while out on the street or in a business but not in our homes. With officers routinely entering private residences for domestic disputes or otherwise inconsequential visits the footage should be deleted promptly once deemed not of use. This access allows however allows for the footage to be manipulated if the officers are given the ability to turn off and on the cameras as they like they can easily frame a situation in their favor. Body cameras have the ability to become both an important training tool as well as a potential constitutional

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Speaking of this, there will be policies set up to say who’s able to view the recordings. In addition. To the cost which could be funded by the government. Also, the expense for the equipment will be expensive, with needing maintenance and being able to hold hours of video on one database. Also, how technology is imperfect so "Technological issues related to the cameras may prevent proper functioning at times, missing important witness statements or crucial behavior by officers or citizens".

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625 Words | 3 Pages

Officer would not want to be considered a bad officer so to protect them from that coming out a body camera would show their character of what type of police officer he/she is. The shooting of Michael Brown brought a lot of anger against the police department because people felt like a justice was not done correctly (nytime.com). The evidence showed that the officer was doing his job correctly but since there was no actual recording of the situation people did not want to believe it. The body camera is a way to prevent anger of waves for the public to come against the police

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210 Words | 1 Pages

Shooting of Walter Scott occurred on April 4, 2015, in South Carolina. Walter Scott was shot by Michael Slager, a police officer. The police officer was charged with murder after a video contracted the police officer’s report. Which the video showed him shooting the unarmed man from behind. Thanks to the video, justice was made.

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676 Words | 3 Pages

This “Cam” be a Great Idea According to Junior Scholastic“ In August 2014, Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.” If the police don’t wear body cameras how are we supposed to know what happens to Michael Brown. If the police do then we will know what happend. Junior Scholastic also say that “ In court, the jury can see what exactly happened.”

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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.

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1114 Words | 5 Pages

With security police body cameras capturing every incident at every point and time, the amount of unsolved court cases would go down. With the cameras catching every move of everybody, court cases will be much easier and faster to solve. In the court room, a video or film that had captured an incident between police officers and citizens or between citizens and citizens is pure gold due to the fact that the video does not lie and captured the full

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2008 Words | 9 Pages

The use of a body camera is very important in many different instances such as recording a crime, making a statement about an event that just occurred, or as evidence against suspects. By publishing the recorded video to the public, it could potentially violate personal privacy; keeping it private raises concerns about the deceitfulness of the police ("Police Cameras"). This is why body cameras are extremely controversial in our society. Even though body cameras can potentially seem like an invasion of privacy to the public, they can help with clarifying evidence and showing the humane side of the police force. Body cameras are a vital piece of equipment for law enforcement and play an essential

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One of the more widely renowned cases in which a body camera would have been useful is the case of Michal Slager. Slager is a former police officer of South Carolina. The reason that it’s important to put emphasis on the word “former” is that he was recently involved in a murder trial. Slager had shot a black man named Walter Scott. Slager’s justification for shooting Scott was that Scott had stolen his taser and had attempted to attack Slager with it.

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Police body camera video will provide a court with the view that legally matters. This footage also shows the public what the officer saw and heard to understand the officer’s actions. Therefore, putting the public in the officer’s position and giving them the situation on hand to determine whether the actions taken were rational. The body camera can ensure that the public does not see only the confrontational piece of the encounter that may only be captured on a cellphone. With the use of body cameras, the entire interaction should be recorded so that the focus is not only on the final frame of the incident, and the reviewing court of the matter and the public will be able to see the actions leading up to the confrontational part of the

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By being conscious of their every move being watched, officers will be careful not to make any obscene choices when on duty. The cameras will be beneficial to both the officers, and the public as they take careful measures to make good

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585 Words | 3 Pages

First, they shouldn’t wear body cameras because it raises high privacy concerns. For example, “Recordings raise high privacy concerns. In some states, anyone can access the video.” (Should Police Wear Body Cameras, pg.23) Also, “Study Reveals Police Officer Are More Likely To Be Assaulted.”

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776 Words | 4 Pages

“Police officers cannot be expected to encode and retain every one of the countless details that make up a use-of-force incident.” This quote from the Los Angeles Times article ‘The Right Body Camera Policy’ explains one of the many needs for police officers to be equipped with body cameras. Not only does it promote non-lethal methods, it helps police officers in the process. Police units should be required to wear body cameras in order to hold officers accountable of misconduct, as well as defend police from false accusations. To begin, police officers should wear body cameras in order to hold themselves accountable for misconduct.

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1487 Words | 6 Pages

From interactions on the street to testifying in open court, an officer’s word is everything. Once that credibility is gone it is almost impossible for that officer to continue in a law enforcement capacity. Body cameras have emerged as a potential solution to the evolving discussion around police trust and legitimacy issues. One benefit of having a body camera is that if a critical incident, officer involved shooting, or accusation of brutality arises, the camera will provide footage from the officer’s point of view that

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1082 Words | 5 Pages

For the past couple years there has been many injustice cases involving poor accusations of innocent victims. These poor accusations of innocent victims include shootings of innocent African Americans. One way to avoid these problems is the use of body cams. These tiny cameras have saved a Police Officer 's job, justified an innocent victim, and even has saved a person 's life. Recently Police Departments have been using these such body cameras and have seen significant results.

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Now there is two possible outcomes, there was police misconduct and abuse of power, or the police officer did everything correctly and by the book. Either way there needs to be something that can protect the public from police misconduct and also protect law enforcement from dealing with false accusations that can tarnish their reputation. That is why body worn cameras need to be mandatory for all police officers to wear because it protects the public and the police officers that are wearing them. A couple positive outcomes police officers wearing body cameras is how they can lower police officers misuse of authority and also lower false complaints against officers as well. These are two

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