Argumentative Essay On Body Cameras
Police Body Cameras: The public’s concern for privacy
The future of police work has change over the past ten years. An Officer’s word was good enough but like all things in life there comes a change. The change that we are seeing in law enforcement currently is the use of body worn cameras. The bigger agencies have had in car cameras for a long time but recently with newer technology officers are now being equipped with body worn cameras. The Executive Director of the Michigan Sheriff’s Association states ‘’ I think it’s a natural evolution from the dash cam,” and “This way, you see what the officer experiences, right or wrong”. (Wawrow p.1 2014) The debate on body worn cameras came mostly after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. However …show more content…
According to Defense lawyer Bruce Block who says his is handling his first criminal case in which police used a body cam. In this case he explains that a Lowell officer was wearing a body cam while searching the home of blocks client and found what police say was an illegal marijuana operation.
According to Block “I have mixed feelings about it, to be honest” and “You’re going into a man’s castle. …. In the sanctity of a person’s home, there needs to be restraint.” He goes on to say “On the other hand, he said, it can “show the true facts of the case.” Since the use of body cameras there have been research made on the new body worn cameras and how it affects not only privacy concerns but how people act when those cameras are on. In the Justice Department’s summary of U.S. studies on the topic, all three researchers answered no –when a camera is on, behavior will change. (Contrera p.2 2014) Those studies found when the body cameras were being used by police and were actively on at the time of contact the number of complaints against officers decreased significantly. (Contrera P.2
The future of police work has change over the past ten years. An Officer’s word was good enough but like all things in life there comes a change. The change that we are seeing in law enforcement currently is the use of body worn cameras. The bigger agencies have had in car cameras for a long time but recently with newer technology officers are now being equipped with body worn cameras. The Executive Director of the Michigan Sheriff’s Association states ‘’ I think it’s a natural evolution from the dash cam,” and “This way, you see what the officer experiences, right or wrong”. (Wawrow p.1 2014) The debate on body worn cameras came mostly after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. However …show more content…
According to Defense lawyer Bruce Block who says his is handling his first criminal case in which police used a body cam. In this case he explains that a Lowell officer was wearing a body cam while searching the home of blocks client and found what police say was an illegal marijuana operation.
According to Block “I have mixed feelings about it, to be honest” and “You’re going into a man’s castle. …. In the sanctity of a person’s home, there needs to be restraint.” He goes on to say “On the other hand, he said, it can “show the true facts of the case.” Since the use of body cameras there have been research made on the new body worn cameras and how it affects not only privacy concerns but how people act when those cameras are on. In the Justice Department’s summary of U.S. studies on the topic, all three researchers answered no –when a camera is on, behavior will change. (Contrera p.2 2014) Those studies found when the body cameras were being used by police and were actively on at the time of contact the number of complaints against officers decreased significantly. (Contrera P.2