Do Police Need Body Cameras Essay

Thesis statement: Police should wear body cameras because playing body cameras could improve the public’s view of police by showing the human side, help to provide evidence when a person may not be able to, and it protects the officers and public both. Cameras Imagine there is a huge case going on where a police officer is coming under question on if dealt with a potential suspect in the correct way. Now think about the money being used to provide lawyers, a judge, a jury, etc., to handle the high profile case. 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.

I think many Americans think that there is a problem with the black person whom was killed by the police, rather than the officer who actually murdered the person. Many people, like myself, believe that police officers do not always get in trouble when situations like police racism or brutality happen. They do not think about getting in trouble because most of them literally don 't at all. When cops get caught for illegal actions they are just going to get in trouble by there own friends on the force, just to be put on paid leave. Not being caught is a big issue and is mainly why cops think that they can do whatever they want and completely get away with it.

Sandy Banks is bothered by the injustice of police officers towards possible innocent victims. Because it seems like if officers rely on shooting at people as their safest option, Banks demands better training to help solve this issue. Police officers being caught on camera doesn 't changes the fact that the victim will become wounded, or pass away, yet, in most cases officers are not held accountable for the insensible act. In her article, "Horrific videos aren 't solving police shootings, but better training might" Banks asks for better training for police officers, as she developed strong pathos with details, great logos with logical solutions and consequences, but a weak ethos by not mentioning her credentials and the other side of the story.

One could be lying, but make it believable. The other could be telling the truth, but does not have enough evidence. The same for police officers, they all aren't honest or trustworthy. Although police should wear body camera while they are on duty, this is also invading people's privacy. Police officers need to insure the safety and trust of the citizens by wearing body camera.

In recent years there has been more accounts of police brutality on citizens who haven’t done anything wrong. In which some of the actions done by some police officers have led to some major consequences. Imagine a person named Tim is just minding his own business buying things or just walking around, next thing you know a police officer comes out of nowhere and starts beating Tim for no reason. No one would like that to happen to them but this is a scenario that has been popping up more recently with some having deadlier consequences. Since of this issue police officers need to wear body cameras to record when they interact with citizens.

One reason to keep guns in the hands of the people is fairly simple, but its impact is highly underestimated: guns stop criminals and in some cases prevent the crime before it even begins. Criminals are less likely to commit a crime with a gun such as mugging if they believe that there is a chance that they will get shot in the process. In situations a bit more extreme such as mass shootings, guns owners have the ability to take out the shooter and prevent a much greater loss of life from happening. According to an article published in Investors Business Daily, “A major factor in determining how many people are harmed by these killers is the amount of time that elapses between when the attack starts and someone is able to arrive on the scene with a gun” (Lott). Often times civilians with concealed carry permits are on the scene much sooner than possible for law enforcement.

The United states and their police forces are doing the best they can to help keep the peace, but from bad publicity and less community policing they can barely hold on. Also anti-police movements of citizens who disagree with the force officer's use during arrests makes the officer's concern for safety even greater. However,the media will only report the negative sides of police and their duties they do everyday. Next the police are targeted by people and have been in the 60s and more recently in the past couple months. In the 1960s Police were targeted by the Black Panther party and had at least 13 planned killings of police that the authorities know of.

A major benefit for having body cams is the fact that it will decrease the force used by Police Officers. For the past couple of years there has been many videos of Police Officers using excessive force against innocent victims, especially with African Americans. “The notion has been around for a while. But since August 's fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri -- for which witness accounts varied widely -- it 's gained traction to become part of the national conversation about police conduct.” (Brandon Griggs 1) People have been recently protesting against Police Officers because of the excessive force people have seen them use recently in viral videos. Some Departments have been using body cams and have seen some significant results.

Stated in the article “10 Advantages and Disadvantages of Gun Control”, “ Funds could even be set aside so that licensing and safety classes are low-cost or free.” This shows the court could waste a lot of money funding gun classes when they could be funding something more important like schools or homes for homeless people.Along with this fact why should mentally unstable citizens own a gun in the first place. Mentally unstable people should not have the right to own a firearm of any kind. With gun control it could lower the rate of suicide with firearms.According to the

Schools now a days have spent thousands of dollars buying cameras, upgrading to better locked doors, etc. But we still dont know if any of these things will work because sometimes things don’t always work perfectly. Districts could have saved a lot more money if they just hire security guards and a few policemen. Schools are best served by installing and/or constructing doors that can lock from the inside the classroom, bulletproof glass, and rooms that can immediately safeguard students and staff from an active shooter as said in Source C. These types of security measures cost very much and sometimes might not always work. Especially with bulletproof glass, because not everything can be so reliable.

Yes these cameras would make solving issues in cases much easier, but there are many who think this is a violation of their privacy to have an officer with a camera entering their house or looking into their car. It is understandable that someone would not want a rolling camera seeing into their home, but the ability to prove innocence or guilt in a court case should more than outweigh this temporary invasion. If someone is accused of something and the option of having a camera that could prove or revoke the accusation, or having no evidence to prove anything, which should be chosen? Should police officers carry body cameras? If so, should there be restrictions on when and where they can be used?

We do not hear about these cases near as much, because sometimes these cases are never really brought to light (Stewart, Police Brutality). Police brutality is a huge problem in this world today and we need to take it very seriously, body cameras have been promoted as a solution to the police misconduct problem. Some examples of police taking their authority too far is Michael Brown killed in Ferguson, and Erik Garner killed in Staten Island (funk, New york times). These cases could have been support a lot better in court and kept everyone true to their word if body cameras would have been in the picture, the families could be relieved in knowing what actually happened in that incident and the case could have been put to rest a lot sooner than they were. Studies show that use of force complaints were decreased by 75 percent once the use of body cameras was put into play (scheindlin, pg 1).

As routine officers arrive on scene to carry out the purpose of the police department by providing peace, safety, and to maintain order emotions, rights and authority can disrupt judgment. In the case of Oscar Grant one officers actions were quickly misunderstood because another unarmed person would be killed by a police officer. In my opinion the officer failed to carry out the purpose of the police department because officers are expected to not do unnecessary harm but protect and serve. With new policy educating the public and police officers on how to commutate and react to one another could help decrease these types of actions. Including new policy that could help prevent this action of police brutality against unarmed individuals by increasing police training on de-escalating situations verbally before becoming physically aggressive.

If police body cameras were to be enforced for policemen it would change both how the public treats officers and how officers handle situations. It is unfair to send police officers out into the public with the fear of second guessing themselves every time they make a decision. If they have body cameras they will have the proof of the film to back up whatever decision is made. During a study in 2013 they accumulated stats showing first, Shifts without body cameras experience twice as many incidents of use of force of shifts with body cameras.