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Student’s Name: Khoa Huynh
Course: ENG111
Instructor: Adam Chiles
Date:12/01/2021
Pros and Cons of Police Body Cameras
Most people tend to think that the cameras worn by the police on their bodies are a great way to enhance accountability and enforce better practices in the police service industry. Research states that over 60% of police officers and 80% of the public agree with the idea of using body cameras by police to record interactions with the citizens and suspects as well. However, in some cases, some police officers are not okay with the use of body cameras maybe because they have their reasons for that as would be highlighted in this discussion. In this essay I will focus on the pros and cons of police brutality and whether they are effective or not in ending police brutality.
One of the pros of using the body cams by police is the usage of footage as evidence. Footage can be used as evidence in the courts of law. This is one of the biggest advancements in the law enforcement industry since whatever transpires between the police officers and the suspects or accused can be seen and documented for further use (DES, 1). Lots of cases have gone down the drain because of lack of evidence and justice not served. Without this footage, no one can tell what actually transpired and the case can get easily dismissed in a court of law. In this case, the body cams are useful in gathering evidence.
The police body cams prevent violence either from the police officers or the respondents that are the people getting arrested. When the police have the body cams violence is less likely to transpire. Some officers are violent and may injure or even kill the suspects and plant fake evidence on them, but when the body cams are there it’s hard for them to do anything that can get them in trouble. The body cams act as a shield to violence thus preventing violence.
Police body cameras are a bit expensive for some police departments and not all of them can afford to acquire them. The gadgets are expensive since once a department wants to use them, then they have to purchase the gadgets for the whole department no matter the number of police officers in the department (Britannica, 1). They have to budget for the cameras, the people to manage the data collected as well as maintenance of the gadgets. Not all police departments can afford the cameras so it becomes difficult and costly using them.
Critics believe that the body cams invade their privacy and expose them. According to research, some encounters between the police and the public sometimes lead to unintended exposure of some private and confidential conditions like mental illnesses, rape, or even domestic abuse. The recordings are prone to traumatizing some of these victims and cause fear of getting attacked again by criminals (Kissiah, 1). Such exposures also instill fear amongst people giving out information which may lead to dismissal or firing of their jobs. Research states that these cameras limit the privacy of the officers as well as civilians. Since the cameras are always on, they are prone to recording videos and pictures of random people minding their businesses and some may feel like they are being exposed and may not take it well.
Well in my perspective, body cams are effective in hindering or reducing police brutality. This is because of the evidence the camera collects against the police officers assaulting the respondents or suspects. The police officers are now afraid of using excessive force with their body cams recording live. They are not allowed to turn the body cams off for a whole shift therefore it has to keep on recording capturing the transpiring events happening in real-time (NYT, 1). There are some cases whereby some rogue police officers have been known to tamper with the recordings and edit them. This does not go on for so long without them being held accountable in the courts of law. In recent times the courts have held a lot of police officers accountable for switching off their body cams and some even editing the footage. Most of them are either fined or sent to jail and sometimes even both of them (Doleac, 1). There are minimal cases of police brutality as compared to some years back before the technology of instilling body cams in their uniforms came.
The use of using body cams has been one of the recent advancements in the law enforcement sector and has made a huge impact by reducing police brutality in society. The cameras offer transparency to the public and the courts of law bringing to justice the rogue cops who engage themselves in brutality instead of protecting society. The government should support the poor departments and equip them with such gadgets to reduce police brutality in society and mend the relationship between the police and civilians. Body cams should not be the solution to end police brutality but it should be an individual’s own will. The police should end brutality out of their own will and instead turn to serving and protecting the people they are entitled to protect.
Works Cited
Britannica. “Police Body Cameras: Top 3 Pros And Cons – Procon.Org”. Procon.Org, 2018, https://www.procon.org/headlines/police-body-cameras-top-3-pros-and-cons/.
DES. “Exploring Pros And Cons Of Police Body Cams | 10-8 Video Systems”. 10-8Video.Com, 2015, https://www.10-8video.com/Blog/exploring-pros-cons-police-body-cams.
Doleac, Jennifer. “Do Body-Worn Cameras Improve Police Behavior?”. Brookings, 2017, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2017/10/25/do-body-worn-cameras-improve-police-behavior/.
Kissiah, Michael. “Police Body Cameras: Do They Reduce Complaints Of Officer Misconduct?”. Private Investigator And Investigation Resources, 2021, https://www.einvestigator.com/police-body-cameras/.
NYT. “Police Body Cameras Cited As ‘Powerful Tool’ Against Stop-And-Frisk Abuses (Published 2020)”. Nytimes.Com, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/30/nyregion/nypd-body-cameras.html.
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