Are Police Body Cameras Good Or Bad

Police technology has greatly changed over time from the telegraph to police radios and how in-car cameras are now on police officers, other known as police body cameras. The first time cameras where used to record police officers was between 2000-2004 for law suits alleging racial bias in police stops. At first 11 percent of state police and highway patrol vehicles were equipped with cameras then a few years later nearly 75 percent of these agencies were able to equip cameras in police cars. But even with that 75 percent was with cameras the other 25 percent that didn’t install dash cameras. The criticisms of in-car cameras was with some agencies, they felt that in-car cameras distracted police officers from the job, too much reliance on cameras, too much information and stress on the job. …show more content…
Is it a waste of money? Does it prevent violence? The reason why police body cameras has been pushed to the courts is because of the Ferguson shooting in Missouri. August 9, 2014 Michael Brown an unarmed black teenager was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a white police officer. But little over a week later, the failure of a Staten Island grand jury to indict NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo for his fatal use of a chokehold on Eric Garner, yet another unarmed black man, further catalyzed the movement particularly because this deadly encounter was captured on film by nearby onlookers. The outrage over Officer Pantaleo’s nonindictment presents an interesting challenge for reformers. Prior to the grand jury’s decision, both protestors and politicians were calling for police departments across the country to outfit their officers with body cameras. There are many issues with police body cameras but the main three issue are camera expenses, police accountability, and prevent