Argumentative Essay: Why Police Should Wear Cameras

Improved Essays
In a civil society, police play a pivotal role in maintaining stability in terms of protecting public property and human security. However, unfortunately, some accidents have occurred in which police officers have been slandered. In January of 2014, three African-American males were mistakenly shot dead by a NYPD cop in the streets. Since these types of accidents happen quite regularly and are also reported on in the media,consequently, the reputation of the law enforcement police has become enormously damaged. In order to prevent this from progressing and to rebuild the reputation of police officers, recording situations while on duty can ensure the accountability of each side and provide proof and reliable evidence. Thus, officers should wear cameras for documentation purposes. Law enforcement officers carrying documenting devices can help provide evidence in case of any conflict or disagreement. First of all, the situation of an officer on duty changes unpredictably. Especially when they face a criminal, things become more complex and uncontrollable. In this case, the camera on …show more content…
Undeniably, people subconsciously perform better under the situation if others are supervising them and even more when they are being recorded. Similarly, the result of awareness of all their actions and conversation being taken down; it may cause an officer to be more watchful and serious to avoid doing anything wrong to have evidence that can be used to against them. A study called “Implementing a Body- Worn Camera Program” shows that the use of force by officers has dropped by 60% since the use of cameras was implemented on a police affair (February 2012). More importantly, the body worn cameras helps maintain trust of police officers due to the decreasing usage of unnecessary force or improper

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Police brutality is one of the most disputed political controversies influencing a diverse range of American citizens in today’s society. In order to find a solution to this widespread debate, many state governments have implemented the use of body cameras on police officers to monitor the behavior between police officers and citizens during potentially controversial situations. In “Why police body cameras would work” , Mark O’Mara demonstrates the direct relationship between the number of body cameras on police officers and the enhanced behavior of citizens and officers. This article was published days after the grand jury decided not to charge Officer Daniel Pantaleo over Eric Garner’s death, an incident captured entirely on video. O’Mara published the article on CNN, a credible source of news shown to a large population of people.…

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The relationship between police and African Americans has been repeatedly damaged by cases of white cops shooting black citizens and getting no charges due to a lack of solid evidence. If body worn cameras were to be deployed, they’d require strict guidelines in order to refrain from harming the community and cops alike. However, if administered correctly, they could increase legitimacy dramatically, as well as the African American relationship with police in…

    • 821 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In his essay “For Cops…” Kevin Johnson claims that videos of police officers are placing their actions under new scrutiny and changing the way that claims against officers are played out in court. Police have responded by trying to limit such recordings when they feel that they interfere with police actions. The fear that is most present in law enforcement is that these videos will cause officers to change how they behave in a life or death situation. To combat this, officers are now receiving training to deal with being recorded.…

    • 978 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Although there are several pros and cons to this subject, the pros most definitely out weigh the cons. Over the past decade due to social media and increasing racial and societal tensions, more and more pressure has been placed on police officers to wear body cameras to document their daily interactions. While this is certainly a complex issue it seems to make the most sense that officers should wear body cameras. Studies show that with body cameras in place there…

    • 1270 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Many cases arise where police or the civilian can not recall certain events or specific details that occurred in the situation and the police body cameras will solve that and provide a valuable extra piece of information for misconduct situations. The investment may prove to be costly, but can end up saving law enforcement time and money because body cameras can prevent court trials based on misinformation. The body cameras can help strengthen and enhance transparency and accountability in the police department. Police can also feel further protected from the possibility of false complaints. (Ferrarin, par.…

    • 1811 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Over the past decade, officer involved violence and occasional killings has been accepted as a rare and necessary happening to protect the general public, but recently the number of these instances have skyrocketed at an alarming rate. Many are beginning to question the intentions of the police, wondering if they’ve taken an unnecessarily brutal and violent twist to their job description. Though many defend current police systems, there has been an obvious rise in on duty shootings ending in severe injury and death of civilians causing a need to mandate harsher consequences for on duty incidents and require body cameras at all times while on duty. Officer involved injuries and killings is an escalating issue all over the nation. Abe Markman…

    • 1279 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Viewing the footage will let them be able to manipulate anything that was inaudible and make it reasonable for their actions. According to the article "The Right Body Camera Policy" by Dan Simon and Jim Bueermann "In the end, the use of body cameras should both reduce the use of force and lessen the need…

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This raised a red flag in the eye of the public and they started asking questions and demanding answers. To solve this issue, police officers should be required to wear body cameras on duty when interacting with the public because it will show the behaviors of the police officers, collect any evidence that is needed to solve a case and it will protect the public against police brutality. Body worn cameras should be considered while on duty when interacting with the public because it will show the behaviors of both parties. Tony Farrar study is a perfect example. He is the chief of the police department…

    • 982 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Police body cameras can be the next big thing to help and protect officers and get the accused criminals. Although opponents say that police body cameras can invade privacy it does not because it is a way that officers can get evidence of what happened that day and it can help in court cases if an officer is being accused of something they didn’t do or if the officer did something wrong that he did not supposed to do. Police body cameras can also get evidence if the police officer is doing his or her job well. It can also help in having…

    • 1266 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Police officers are people who dedicate themselves to protect and serve for the citizens of their community. Most police officers have been required to wear body cameras to document more of what they are doing, watch people, and to also watch what is going on the background. Police officers focus on protecting the people and property. Police officers, S.W.A.T teams, Firefighters, and Sheriffs have been required to wear body cameras. The body cameras are here for the people's safety and the officers on duty.…

    • 1846 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Body Cameras

    • 949 Words
    • 4 Pages

    This study has won multiple awards in excellence in law enforcement and excellence in evidence based policing. When it comes to body worn cameras, there are multiple reasons as to why they should be an essential part of the officers’ uniforms. For one, it provides a clear image of what the officer sees from his perspective. Another reason why is that with these cameras on, people tend to behavior in a more mannered way knowing that they are being filmed. On top of this, they are relatively small, about the size of a tube of chapstick.…

    • 949 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In a recent NYPD case over the use of body cameras on police, the ruling judge stated that “If, in fact, the police do, on occasion, use offensive language—including racial slurs—or act with more force than necessary, the use of body-worn cameras will inevitably reduce such behavior.” This claim over an improvement in the police officers behavior was put to the test by researches at Arizona State University. The researches took a sample of 100 police officers from across the nation and had them wear body cameras for three months. The researches noted that at the beginning of the experiment most of the officers had negative attitudes toward civilians with whom they interacted on a daily basis.…

    • 1641 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Records show that the public’s trust in the police is at an all time low; therefore departments using body cameras have a greater advantage of increasing trust and improving relationships with the general public. Police body cameras benefit all parties, they provide documented objective video evidence that can be used to prosecute or exonerate a suspect (Gass). All in all, the launch of police body cameras protects civilians, and provides a record of the interactions between police officers and…

    • 1036 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On Police Legitimacy

    • 2002 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Police Legitimacy Under the Spotlight “When you realize that incompetent police officers are harassing you, you need to call 911 and demand that a police supervisor be immediately dispatched to the scene. In the mean time you need to be video recording everything, as police officers are known for their blatant lies and fabrications.”- Steven Magee (G. (Ed.). 2008, January).…

    • 2002 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Importance Of Body Cameras

    • 1505 Words
    • 7 Pages

    When the body cameras were first introduced claims of police misconduct dropped significantly. Rhonda Swan states, “ In the first year after Rialto Calif., police started wearing body cameras, the use of force by officers declined almost 60 percent, and citizen complaints against police fell 88 percent.” When police are watched they may feel as though they must be on their best behavior because if they make a unacceptable move, or use excessive force their higher ups will find out. New England College says that there is “ a sense of accountability for both police officers and the citizens they interact with. If encounters are being recorded for future review- and potential evidence both sides are more likely to put on their best behavior, proponents say.”…

    • 1505 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays