Should Police Wear Body Cameras

I selected an article about police body cameras. The article cited several studies, as well as the authors’ ideas and thoughts. The article, titled Police Body Cameras, is part of the CATO Institute’s National Police Misconduct Reporting Project, and prepared by Matthew Feeney in 2015. The theme throughout the article is that the use of body cameras will reduce police misconduct. Although we all hope this is the case, we must also look at the other issues involved with the wearing of body cameras. In an effort to gain citizen buy-in and obtain their opinions, they conducted surveys. Interestingly enough, most people did not want the officers to record them, unless it was during an enforcement encounter, such as a traffic stop or arrest situation.

Rialto, California is an example of a city with positive results from the use of body-cameras. In Rialto, police began wearing body-cameras a little less than three years ago. As a result of officers wearing body-cameras, citizens’ complaints against police officers dropped 88 percent and use of force by police officers dropped 60 percent from the previous 12 month period when body-cameras were not in use. Rialto’s police chief said, “When you put a camera on a police officer, they tend to behave a little better, follow the rules a little better. And if the citizen knows the officer is wearing a camera, chances are the citizen will behave a little better” (Lovett).

The term “Police Officer” by definition is [1]“ :a person whose job is to enforce laws, investigate crimes, and make arrests”.[1] For such a straight-forward position there is quite a massive amount of stigma attached to the title. Police officers are supposed to be seen has community heroes or helpers, but it seems as the year 2016 continues the general public have manifested a resentful standing towards the law enforcement system. There are many factors that play into these emotions, but the reoccurring problem is the presence of police brutality.

Police brutality is a big problem, not only in the USA, but also around the world. There have been lots of effort to change this, from police departments to governments, to communities. One such effort has been the addition of body-worn cameras to the uniforms of police officers, in order to enforce accountability. This makes it so that, if there were a controversial case questioning whether the force displayed by an officer was warranted or not, there would be a video of the encounter, which is often more reliable evidence than the word of an officer or civilian. Despite the cost, mandating body-worn cameras for on-duty officers would benefit everyone involved, since there would be far less room for false or inaccurate claims made by

Police brutality has become a major issue in the United States causing people to believe that officers do not protect and serve. There has been many questions of how we can solve this problem. One of the many questions people ask is “Should all police officers wear body cameras?” By police officers wearing body cameras it can make poor communities become safer and help communities have trust with the police. Also, body cameras can protect police officer when they get into bad confrontation.

Police brutality against African Americans has become a hot topic in the media. Police brutality is when excessive force is used when it is unnecessary. During the civil rights movement, African American men and women fought for and gained their rights. They may have believed that their suffering had ended there but there is still a long way to go. In Martin Luther King Jr. “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, he writes about how African Americans are being treated by police and the court system. He describes it as “ grossly unjust treatment” (paragraph 6). Today it is three times more likely for a black person to be killed than a white person. One out of three of the black people killed by police were armed and suspected to have committed an actual crime

When police officers wear body cameras, less complaints are filed, use-of-force situations decrease, and training opportunities are gained. In 2012

Did you know this year alone, 323 Americans were killed by police and the number is still currently growing, according to CopCrisis. com? In fact, most of these killings were from police brutality. The term “police brutality” was introduced as early as 1872, when Chicago Tribune reported om the beating of a civilian under arrest at the Harrison Street Police Station. However, Police brutality has been a serious issue for African Americans ever since slavery ended. This brutality started to rise rapidly in the 1960s. From the Civil Rights era of hoses, tear gas and dogs, to the iconic recording of Rodney King, an African-American taxi driver who was internationally known after being beaten by Los Angeles Police Department officers following a

The article of Should Police wear Body Cameras, described that civilians and police officers are far more mindful when being recorded. Both police officers and civilians are less likely to use violence if they are being recorded with a body camera. For instance, the article More Local Police Departments May start using Body Cameras stated that “ever since 120 police officer in California were given body cameras the reports of Police abuse dropped. Civilians could make up fake claims that police officers are abusing them and we wouldn’t be able to prove them wrong, but now that those officers are wearing cameras while on duty, the reports against officers have sufficiently decreased. Officers wearing body cameras on duty would help violence claims and incidents

How do you feel about being watched? There are many people against our police officers wearing body cameras but that’s because they don’t know the facts. Body cameras can catch criminals on camera and protect the United States from crime. The body cameras can prevent crimes in many ways in the world we live in. Police officers should wear body cameras at all times.

Body cameras footage has proved valuable in the investigation into police misconduct. “Some police departments are doing themselves a disservice by not using body-worn cameras. Everyone around you is going to have a camera's so that everyone else can be able to tell their story better than someone who does not have these cameras”. For example, the student in south Carolina who was pull off her chair by a police officer, because she refused to give her phone. Other students, however, recorded the situation on their phone. They claimed that the student hit the police officer, which resulted in the officer removing her from her seat. However, the student who was pulled out of the chair said she only hit the police officer because he hit her. First, the police officer had been wearing a body camera it would have proved the actual events.

People are debating if police officers should have to wear body cameras or not. Everyone has different opinions. I believe it would be good for police men to wear body cameras, so that other police can see what is happening on the crime scene. Also it is easier if the men who are on duty need help. Sometimes when police officers are on a scene of a crime it is not always that easy to call for help or backup. Body cameras are also helpful for police officers, because it can help them prove a point. Police have evidence and proof about what really happened.

There are thousand among thousands of misconduct reports filed each year against the law enforcement for police officers using excessive force complaints make up nearly one quarter (Harvard Law Review, 2010). Decision, decision, decision… when a police officer decides to gun down a suspect during encounter or an arrest it the police officer decision. Particularly, that these deadly encounters are being video filmed by the communities that these police officers serve. The communities has come together to protest against the excessive force that police officers are displaying across the United States. These encounter that are being filmed by the communities are asking why are these acts continue to happen. With the advancing of technology (cell phone with cameras) and social media being played or watch throughout the real world display an unpredictable behavior among both police officers and the communities that they serve. These action has push Law Enforcement to consider a solution; Body worn cameras might be part of a solution for the growing recognition that the United States real problem with police excessive force. In August 2014 the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri or April 12, 2015 of Freddie Gray arrest in Baltimore, Maryland or March 3, 1991 of Rodney King in Los Angeles, California; there are many more misconduct of

The mistreatment of minority communities is starting to gain national attention though the reasons why they are the topic of discussion is shocking and disgusting. Michael Brown, a young black man in Ferguson, Missouri, was killed by Officer Darren Wilson, left in the street for four and a half hours, and conveyed to be a criminal while his killer was acquitted of all charges. Eric Gardner was strangled by NYPD police who broke protocol, was acquitted of all charges, and further justified their actions. Overwhelmed by the events going on in America in regards to police brutality, I wanted to take a deeper look at what event or series of events had led us to be in the terrifying predicament that our society is in today. The lives of African American men are being taken every day at the hands of law enforcement and I needed a deeper understanding of why this was occurring so

Is it really possible to argue against an untampered video from the scene of the crime? Police officers should be required to wear body camera when on the job. This topic is an ongoing argument that is raging like wildfire across the nation. When a police officer clocks in for the day they grab what they need for that day and go, but what if they were recording what they did when they pulled you over? What would you do? You would probably act a little bit more tamed. That is one main reason why they should start wearing body camera during every radio that they respond to.