Law Enforcement Cameras Mandatory Essay

Although officers claim they aren’t as unprofessional as everyone says, many people beg to differ. A lot of people have evidence on how they were mistreated, and how the officers weren’t at all professional. Others have been killed and seriously injured, but the idea is still up in the air after several years. To protect themselves, and others around them, police officers should be forced to wear body cameras while they’re in a case or are talking to a suspect while on duty. Having to wear body cameras would be a positive way to help the authorities to see the truth better than just having to listen to the voice recorder.

Although the conduct of police officers and the validity of the video evidence will be highly scrutinized, body cameras are necessary because police brutality and falsified reports would be diminished. Malcom X stated “If someone puts their hands on you make sure they never put their hands on anybody else again.” In my personal opinion, I feel the police officers would be held in check due to their knowing that they are constantly being monitored. First I will state by explaining why cameras are considered an unbiased resource.

The powerful words “trust, but verify” were once said by former United States President Ronald Reagan. These words need to be used for all situations and people. In order for there to be trust and a way to verify what happens between the police officers and citizens, police body cameras need to be worn. Technology is advanced as it has ever been and there is now a way for police officers to wear a camera right on their uniform. This technology must be taken advantage of for the benefits it provides to police officers and citizens.

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.

Michael Brown. Everyone has heard this name tossed around on the news, heard the debates and the speculations of what truly happened. This unarmed African American teenager, shot and killed in a wrongful police encounter, was just one of the victims of police brutality this year. Countless other casualties have occurred as a result of similar crimes and most have one specific thing in common. The accused officers in a majority of these cases escaped with no consequences.

How would feel if you woke up to your phone ringing at two o’clock in the morning and on the other end of the line was a person telling you to come to the hospital to identify your husband, who was killed during an altercation with the police? Or vice versa, and your husband was the officer! For the rest of your life you will wonder who was wrong and who was right. The use of body cameras by police officers will rid a person of these uncertainties and provide closure. They allow people to get a true insight into what really happened in these uncertain events.

If Only I Had a Camera “Drunk driving suspect James Duckworth was handcuffed and cooperative when officer Charles Broaderick slammed his head into the wall. Duckworth was bleeding and barely conscious as the abuse continued: Broaderick even tried to wrap a plastic bag around the victim’s head.” (The Daily Caller) After endless reports of police brutality, the idea of body cameras is being highly considered, and already used in police departments nationwide. The plan is to attach a small camera onto all police uniforms, that records their interactions with citizens.

Bruce Scheiner’s article , Spy Cameras won’t make us safer, argues that cameras do not help fight against crime, and it is true. In paragraph five of the article, Scheiner explains few of the downsides when police stare helplessly through the monitor, such as: criminals disguising themselves in sunglasses to protect identification. Cameras are used solely for identifying the criminal mastermind, and tracking where they were seen last; however, an intellectual wouldn’t gawk in awe for mere seconds, seductively posing at whomever is on security duty.

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.

In my opinion, security cameras aren 't the way to make a society more save. Although it 's true what they say in the text “After Boston: The pros and cons of surveillance cameras“ about the cameras being a less intruding way of securing a public space or office, or even a store, they don 't prevent any crime from happening, never have and never will. Surely, as technology advances, the ways to evaluate the collected data improve and less man hours are needed to look for suspects after a crime had happened.

Taking a video is a part of most people's everyday lives in America. Everyone uses their cameras for something different whether it’s for a picture with a friend or for a video of their pets. Cameras let people keep memories along with history. The use of police cameras will improve the behavior of police officers and suspects, can make for more accountable reports and be used as evidence in the court, and can reduce the complaints of the public.

Body-Cameras “A government that operates in the dark is a government people should be concerned about.” - Bates, a police analyst. Police Departments around the Nation are looking at requiring officers wearing cameras. In 2014 Barack Obama stated, he would strengthen standards by enforcing body cameras for police departments to lower the amount of deaths, complaints, and viral harassment, towards the police departments. For Instance, Leslie Sapp was fatally shot as Marshals went to Leslie’s house to give him a warrant, they claimed that he pointed a toy gun at them, the Marshals were not charged.

We live in a world that has become completely evolved around technology. Therefore, it is no surprise that police body cameras have become a common recommendation in order to reduce police misconduct. Like everything, the use of police body cameras has its pros and cons. Police body cameras can assure accurate statements made by both civilians and police officers themselves. Instead of listening to “he said, she said” these cameras will allow truthful statements and conversations to divulge what really occurred.