Body Cameras Essay

For 27 years, my father served the city of New York as a New York City Police detective. I remember seeing my father coming home weary, exhausted from work daily and some days depressed, due to the stress of his job and the tension between officers and civilians, specifically minority groups. Currently, tension among police officers and minority groups including African Americans are at an all-time high. Recent events such as the deaths of African Americans including Eric Garner, Philando Castile and others in encounters with police officers nationwide have exacerbated the already tense relationship between officers and minorities. The heighten tension and dangerous rhetoric from different groups and individuals have led to the deaths of multiple
My Dad, retired from the NYPD in 2007, but during that time there was advancements in technology and talks of combing technology with policing. He mentioned how body cameras were being placed on police officers in different countries, and how they could not only prevent false accusations against officers but potentially prevent police misconduct. Police officers including my father have been falsely accused, therefore making officers hesitant from fulfilling their responsibilities. However, body cameras could prevent false accusations because the camera records interactions between officers and civilians, thus providing a check and balance against not only false accusations but misconduct by
and the United Kingdom. The study’s results were that police officers with body cameras acted more cautious and the number of complaints brought against them dropped by 93% and physical force used by offices decreased by 47% which is amazing. The cameras according to the study have also secured convictions, especially in domestic violence cases because the camera recording is considered physical evidence. Presently, President Obama, along with the Congress has award over $23 Million to purchase body cameras in the country. But that only cover cameras for 17,000 thousand police officers out of 765,000.
Therefore, to ease tensions, and preserve stability within the nation Congress and the president should increase funding to provide body cameras nationwide to decrease the tension between Police and civilians that