Whether or not police should wear body cameras has sparked many debates in common households as well as the presidential debates themselves. Body cameras would be one of the newest pieces of technology in the police force, providing a steadily watching eye with the purpose of protecting the public. In like manner, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio supports the claim of the advanced technology, saying “[they are] light and easy to use” (Gonchar, TheNewYorkTimes.com). Despite this many people can see how a body camera is intrusive, or simply will not do their job, making this debate not only controversial, but also unclear where fact separates from ideas of an unachievable utopia. Nevertheless, these avid debates portray that body cameras will promise
…show more content…
This, however, is assumed by unscientific data, which is found in the form of random studies, which can often be biased or nonfactual. One program, done by researchers at the University of South Florida, stated that response to resistance incidents decreased 53% in the officers wearing those cameras, and civilian complaints also declined 65% (Wing, HuffingtonPost.com). Conversely, the study showed that officers who didn’t wear the body cameras also saw a decline in the two areas. Michael D. White, a criminologist argues,“we can’t be sure what produced the decrease in complaints and instances of use of force by the camera-wearing cops” (Talbot, NewYorker.com). Although the decline was more drastic to the officers wearing the technology, one could speculate that since the officers where chosen randomly, officers who received more complaints could have been wearing body cameras, and over the course of twelve months, gotten better at patrolling. With this in mind, “only one in four officers in the study agreed that wearing the devices had any impact” (Wing, HuffingtonPost.com). In addition to the ineffectiveness of the body cameras, they can also limit citizens’
This, however, is assumed by unscientific data, which is found in the form of random studies, which can often be biased or nonfactual. One program, done by researchers at the University of South Florida, stated that response to resistance incidents decreased 53% in the officers wearing those cameras, and civilian complaints also declined 65% (Wing, HuffingtonPost.com). Conversely, the study showed that officers who didn’t wear the body cameras also saw a decline in the two areas. Michael D. White, a criminologist argues,“we can’t be sure what produced the decrease in complaints and instances of use of force by the camera-wearing cops” (Talbot, NewYorker.com). Although the decline was more drastic to the officers wearing the technology, one could speculate that since the officers where chosen randomly, officers who received more complaints could have been wearing body cameras, and over the course of twelve months, gotten better at patrolling. With this in mind, “only one in four officers in the study agreed that wearing the devices had any impact” (Wing, HuffingtonPost.com). In addition to the ineffectiveness of the body cameras, they can also limit citizens’