Cams Saves Lives - By: Logne Tyczkowski
In 2016-2017 alone, there have been 357 police brutality incidents that could have been recorded if police were required to wear body cameras. Police officers should have to wear body cameras when they are on duty. When police are required to wear body cameras, the number of injuries to citizens will be reduced. If police wore body cameras, it could save the court system time in figuring out the details of the event. In the end, body cameras worn by police officers could increase safety for all. Body cameras could reduce injuries to citizens.
If cops use force they could be relieved of duty, or when they come back to the station. To keep records on people who have been arrested multiple times or if
This is an important debate to many people, because it can change crime rates and rate of police brutality dramatically. If a police officer is wearing a body camera it could save their life because the offender will know they are being watched and probably won’t try to attack the officer. As with any positives, there are negatives, like the expence of the cameras per officer as large. Also, don 't forget that they are an invasion of privacy.
“There have been other high-profile instances of officers not turning on cameras. One officer involved in the shooting of a 22-year-old black man in the small city of Saratoga Springs, Utah, in September didn't turn on his body camera. A second officer involved in the incident had no camera” (Jackson). Body Cameras could help officers make their jobs easier by keeping civilians more civil. Body Cameras would help show if they unnecessary force against civilians. The more use of body cameras would help improve behaviors of officers who are using excessive force for no
Making sure that every officer has a body camera will cut down on brutality and excessive force, making it safer for the officer and the civilian or suspect. With proper tranning it will create more accountability and cost will also be cut from false accusations creating better edvidence.
Police officers should wear body cameras at all times on duty because it creates more evidence. Body cameras document everything from witnesses,victims,and suspects. “Perceived benefits that body-worn cameras offer—capturing a video recording of critical incidents and encounters with the public, strengthening police accountability, and providing a valuable new type of evidence—largely outweigh the potential drawbacks. (Ziv). This supports the argument because body cameras will be able to record any incidents and report them with the public. This quote support my big argument because only the officers and the victims knows what going on in a situation. This quote supports the position because now there will be clear evidence in certain
Some of the ways that police abuse the law is by creating unneeded tickets, wrongfully taking others possessions and using excessive force, usually referred to as “police brutality.” In some cases, allegations of police brutality are false; however, some officers use unnecessary force and innocent people suffer. In America, there are numerous cases of law enforcers that harass innocent citizens physically, mentally or verbally. Police men and women are supposed to prevent crime, not create it. “One of the main reasons that police brutality occurs is due to the mental, as well as physical, health of the officer. One of the underlying causes of these syndromes or states of being is the lack of wages, which is brought on by less funding to the police” (Cao). Dashboard cameras are one attempt to help stop police abuse but they are easily able to be removed and turned off and are under the control of the officer. If the officer did abuse somebody he could erase the footage on the camera before he even got back to the department. A new, better, solution is mounting Point of View (P.O.V.) cameras on the officers with a live feed leading to one central computer in charge of monitoring these cameras. Daniel B Wood, a professor at the University of Texas A&M, stated in the article “Why The Police Are Hard To Police,” “Mounting cameras on a police officer through federal funding will lower the amount of criminals that were not convicted because of a lack of
Disobeying and dishonest police officers are the ones that would have something to worry about because they can lose their jobs and potentially get time in prison for crime they have done that was caught on film. This is a positive as well because it will seek out negative officers. The majority of findings that can happen by requiring police officers to wear body cameras are positives rarely any negatives. It would not only show undeniable evidence but also make more police officers obey the law which has been proven by statics. Kaste states “The people who like body cameras always point to a Study done in Rialto, Calif, in 2012. Researchers found that officers who wore cameras used force less often — incidents dropped by more than 50 percent”(kaste). According to Kaste a study was done on police officers that used body cameras and it was ruled that officers that used body cameras used less force and the amount of incidents that happend dropped by 50 percent. Civilians as well if they know everything is being recorded by them they will think twice before doing anything that could get them into some sort of
“In the first year after the camera 's introduction, the use of force by officers’ decline 60%, and citizens’ complaints against police fell 88%”. (Christopher Mims) The introduction of police body cameras impacted the world in many better ways than bad. But, police body cameras were introduced due to the public 's awareness to police brutality and numerous of publicity deaths which has impacted the outcome of police interactions.
To begin with, allowing body cameras as a part of a law enforcement officers uniform would be beneficial to the police officer. A benefit of having body cameras is decreasing complaints filed against police officers. “One of the most favored advantages brought about by body cameras is the noticeable
Police body cameras are used in some police departments as a way to record any interaction between an officer and a citizen. Some Americans today seem to think that police body cameras interfere with their right to privacy, because they record sensitive situations. Other Americans believe that the cameras serve as evidence in case something doesn 't go as planned. Police body cameras should be used nationwide because they provide direct evidence, stop police misconduct, build trust, and protect the innocent from being persecuted.
Aren’t you tired of not getting any justice for innocent people dying because of police? In a sample of police departments surveyed in 2013, approximately 75 percent of them reported that they did not use body-worn cameras. All police officers should have to wear body cameras.
Last year, there were 1,207 criminals killed by police officers alone, as in 2013, there were only 461 criminals killed by officers, this is a 261% increase in only two years. Many of these cases has been very controversial to if the criminal was rightly killed or if this is a case of police brutality. Some of the more well known cases include what happened at Ferguson or in Baltimore with Freddie Gray. These cases have not been videotaped and therefore was hard to collect evidence for a case when it went to trial, this limits the amount of trials that incorrectly sentenced. The only judicious resolution is to have body cameras on the officers, this could solve many controversial occurrences. This can also go beyond just police brutality, but with the high appearance of police officers ' everywhere, they could be available to see other incidents, that would also be seen by the cameras that the police officer may be wearing. Police officers should have body cameras attached to them to aid in preventing the grievous issue of police brutality.
Even though body cameras are a good source of evidence: “... Ariel cautions that one innovation, no matter how positive, is unlikely to provide a panacea for a deeply rooted issue such as police legitimacy” (Use of 2). Body worn cameras do bring up the issue of police legitimacy because police can still tamper the footage or say the camera was not recording. Also with every positive impact of body worn cameras there are bad impacts as well. Most officers are required to wear their body camera’s at all times, however the article “Police Cameras” explains how: “In some cases, officers have turned off the devices, and events have not been recorded” (Police Cameras 2). Officers should not have the option to wear body worn cameras.
For many years, numerous accounts of police brutality have gone unknown or inaccurately recorded due to lack of eye witnesses or imprecise written statements. Criminal charges have been dropped or dismissed because there wasn’t enough evidence proving that the suspect committed the crime. Police body cameras are beneficial and helpful for police officers and citizens, to prevent instances of police brutality, monitor the interaction between police officers and citizens and forcing law enforcement to take more accountability for their actions.
The Benefits of Body Cameras in the Police Force and How They Can Save Lives
These past couple of years we have seen all types of racism and hate not only in a certain city but all around the world. Racial profiling, police brutality and police taking advantage of their authority. Personally I feel that police officers should wear body cameras regardless of the costs while on duty, there is no downside on requiring body cams. The cameras would serve as evidence to be referenced at any time that allegations are made against a police officer. Or in other cases if the police officer over did his authority towards someone.