Police Brutality: A Documentary Analysis

Police brutality is among some of the most pressing issues in our country today. With increasingly common reports of misconduct, more people every day are wondering if the police officers, employed by the government and paid for by the people, are truly here to serve and protect.
In many instances however, these reports are skewed and biased by media outlets in favor of condemning police officers without showing interest in the point of view of the police officer. Conversely, police departments have exhibited bias in the favor of their officers. In cases such as the shooting of eighteen-year-old Michael Brown by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, I believe the extreme social outcry can be attributed to the lack of evidence as to who did what, and when.
In the documentary, Greenwood interviews Sergeant Ryan Stokes, of the Mesa P.D. In the interview, Stokes reveals that originally many of the officers that were given cameras in the Mesa Police Department weren’t so keen to the idea of being continually recorded as they went about their shift. However, down the line those same officers that were so against the proposal, have come to appreciate the cameras, as they provide documentation of not only the police officer’s conduct but the accurate perspective of the police officer as they carry out their duties. Police body cameras serve as a way to keep officers in check as they go about their duties but could also be used to record pieces of evidence otherwise missed by officers while in the line of duty. The distribution of body cameras amongst the police force nationwide is almost undeniably a win-win for both the officers and society. Police body cameras can certainly be used to benefit everyone and further improve the police force though they are not without