Preview

Wear Body Cameras Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
643 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Wear Body Cameras Essay
White (2015) noted some minor concerns with health and safety issues, issues with training, and the financial aspect of the use of the body-worn cameras. White (2015) pointed out that there is a need for more research on potential risk factors for officers wearing the body cameras. Potential issues with wearing body cameras that need to be examined are possible neck and head injuries from the weight of the device. The United Kingdom Home Office guide, as cited in White (2015), concluded that although some of the health issues are minimal it is important to take into account the effects it might have on police officers. The amount of time it will take to train an officer on how to properly record, review and download footage is also a concern for some.
New departmental policies will have to be implemented to include the use of body-worn cameras. These policies will have to provide guidelines as to when an officer should turn on and off a camera. Seems as though these are simple steps to take, but not all police departments are equal in size. It might take some larger departments a much longer time to implement the devices taking into consideration that officers first must be trained and policies need
…show more content…
Citizens can help police officers by proving information to solve crimes or identify the problem areas within their neighborhoods. In order for police officers to work effectively, it is essential for them to have a strong working relationship with the citizens of their communities. Essentially both parties would have something to gain, citizens feel safe in their neighborhoods and officers can work more effectively and feel safe while they work. With recent events there has been a lot of tension between communities and police officers, making it very difficult for both to work and in

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Since things are not always as they seem, how can we have a view on everything that is happening. The only way to fix this problem is to enforce a law where all officers must wear a body camera at all times while out on the line of duty. This will minimize from any incident not being properly recorded, this will help avoid any misunderstandings. Body cams will not only help the officers, but also for the other party involved. How you ask? Well let’s take into consideration what we are going by right now. We have stuff being recorded…

    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    There have been many arguments worldwide about officers enforced to wear body cameras. Wearing body cameras does not stop violence against officers or civilians. There are some concerns for the civilians that are being tapes as well. Officers wearing body cameras on duty still make bad choices, even the civilians. It may limit the violence but it will not stop it. There are many concerns that you have to think about like privacy implications, assault against officers and how it will not stop the violence. Body cameras are not a solution to our problem. We need more than little cameras hanging on a shirt.…

    • 281 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    An invasion of privacy is a concern of the police officers wearing the cameras, because they have state-owned footage. When…

    • 371 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Police sometimes cross the line but, it's not always their fault. Sometime it's the civilian passing it an over reacting in court. One way they can fix this problem is with body cameras. Body cameras can prevent many things police and civilians have to deal with, so why don't they always wear them?…

    • 351 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In light of recent events, tensions amongst American communities and police officers have heightened due to the shootings of unarmed civilians and the alleged use of excessive force. These events have brought the integrity of police officers into question raising the question onto whether or not police officers should wear body cameras. This would serve to improve public relations with the local communities and provide a new source of indisputable hard evidence. Unfortunately, everything also comes with its disadvantages and while the benefits of body cameras do outweigh the negatives on paper, they may still not be enough to result in wide scale implementation. Such disadvantages include cost, as the cost of a single body camera ranges from $400 to $700 (Taser International Inc.) The reliability of these cameras may also be called into question as technological bugs are inevitable. According to research conducted by PERF and the COPS office, officers should be required to activate their cameras when responding to calls meaning that they are turned off while on duty. This may allow a police officer to tamper with evidence or to manipulate the cameras as they are in total control. Body cameras may be a potential solution for a growing problem, and while there seem to be an abundance of benefits, many drawbacks do also question the viability of such a project.…

    • 263 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Police should have body cameras because it is important, they are many polices officers that do a bad work, in that case body cameras can help to know who had the reason on an accident, police officers are bound to remember events in ways that protect their sense of self and justify their actions. In general watching body cameras footage should reduce dishonesty in incidents.…

    • 286 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Body Worn Camera (BWC)

    • 534 Words
    • 3 Pages

    There are certain situations, such as …non-law enforcement interactions with members of the community, that call affording officers some measure of discretion in determining whether to activate their cameras. There are situations in which not recording is a reasonable decision. An agency’s body-worn camera policy should expressly describe these situations and provide solid guidance for officers when they exercise discretion not to records.” When officers does not activate the camera, most department polices require officers to state in writing the reason for not activating the…

    • 534 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Recently, police departments across the country have received much scrutiny for recent actions. The latest installment to the never-ending saga, that we all follow on the evening news, is the highly controversial topic of police body cameras. These cameras would attempt to provide an officers perspective to difficult situations and might help explain the actions of our police officers. Two recent articles published by the L.A. Times and The New York Times outline the pros and cons to making body cameras standard issue. The article published by the L.A. Times written by Matt Pearce takes a negative stance on the topic. The article clearly outlines the cons to body cameras and provides little insight to their benefits. The article published by…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Speed cameras are expensive to maintain though, this is the only con. When a speed camera is experiencing technical issues it can give inaccurate readings of the speeds of vehicles, and sometimes it won’t pick them up at all. Most speed cameras also have a limit of reading how fast a vehicle is traveling. If a car is traveling over a set speed the camera will not pick it up as it won’t have enough time to capture a picture of the vehicle. These cameras lead to a lot of dispute in court because a lot of the accused persons feel it violates their privacy. This is a violation in article 21 MD of declaration of rights which states the accused must have the right to face the accuser. The driver loses either way when they get a ticket from a camera, they are forced to either take time off work to go to court and fight the ticket or just pay a fine in cash. So either way the driver is losing. Drivers are at a huge disadvantage when caught by the red light camera as they don’t know for possibly weeks or months until the ticket comes in the mail. By this time it will be hard for them to fight the ticket in court so they are more than likely forced to just pay the fine. The camera manufacturers receive around 50% of the revenue generated by the cameras, as the government has no dealing with them. If a vendor’s camera needs maintenance the private vendor must come and fix the problem. These cameras are extremely effective, a report from a school zone reports that for 13 years they have had speed cameras in the school zone and zero accidents. Some court cases from the private vendors which have photo evidence have been…

    • 373 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In conclusion, having police officers wearing body cameras can benefit both civilians as well as law enforcement. Recent studies show the improvement for both cops and citizens in most cities. A few states have already passed the law and more states are working on this act. Nevertheless it creates a greater opportunity for better evidence. Furthermore, it has been proven that majority of cops are more discipline towards civilians during a confrontation. Finally, this law can provide some secure safety for all…

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I believe that police officers should wear body cameras because" body cameras will reduce the use of force needed by officers and lessen the number of complaints by citizens against the police" said those in favor of body cameras. And body cameras give police superiors reliable supervision, debriefing,and disciplining,enabling them to condemn bad police work and commend good police work.…

    • 421 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Matthew Freeny states, “While police body cameras do have potential to improve law enforcement accountability and provide extra evidence, they are not a police misconduct panacea. Reducing incidents of police misconduct requires not only body cameras, but also reforms of use-of-force policy and training as well as changes to how police misconduct is investigated” (Freeny, 2015.) There were two graphs in the article of police body cameras based on April 2015 YouGov polling that showed that overall people supported body cameras in democratic, republican, independent political parties and white, black, and Hispanic races (Freeny, 2015.) There can also be the downfall of privacy and some lawmakers even argue if body camera footage should be public…

    • 170 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There have been many complaints about if body cameras on police officers will work or not. There are two people that have different opinions that other people that think body cameras will stop police brutality against police officers. William N. Grigg, and Joshua Krause these people think body cameras on police officers will not work, and will not stop or decrease the violence from police officers. Grigg’s argument is Their arguments are that the officers from the SDPD forgot to turn on their body cameras while on duty. A crime that happened in April, Officer Neal Browder fatally shot a 31-year-old man named Fridoon Zalbeg Rawshannehad, who had been suspected of carrying a knife. After the shooting, no weapon was found, although Rawshannehad was carrying what has been described as “a shiny looking object.”(San Diego Cops…

    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Body Worn Cameras

    • 1066 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Multiple studies have shown that when body worn cameras are in use, police are less likely to behave with the use of force, especially high level uses of force. A report that was released from San Diego, California stated, “High-level use of force -- such as physical takedowns or employing Tasers, chemical agents or weapons -- was down 16.4%,” (Wood). This data was comparing the drops in police misconduct from 2013 to after the installation of body cameras in 2016. The same report from California also affirmed, “Of 520,000 incidents that San Diego officers responded to in 2016, just over 4,600 -- less than 1% -- involved the use of force. After the body cameras were installed,” (Wood). With police members knowing that their actions are being recorded and could be reviewed, they act with less force. Data taken from the Rialto Study in California stated, "[s]hifts without cameras experienced twice as many incidents of use of force as shifts with cameras," and "the rate of use of force incidents per 1,000 contacts was reduced by 2.5 times,” (Garrick). The Rialto study randomly selected fifty-four officers to use a body worn camera, those officers encountered less situations where the use of force was needed. Body cameras need to become part of the police uniform because they reduce the use of force, especially the high…

    • 1066 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The success of the police depends not only on the development of their own skills and capabilities, but also on the creation of competent communities. Community policing acknowledges that police cannot succeed in achieving their basic goals without both the operational assistance and political support of the community. Conversely, the community cannot succeed in constructing decent, open, and orderly communities without a professional and responsive police force” (Meese,…

    • 1555 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays