Body worn cameras will increase public safety in many ways. One way that stands out is the fact that each officer will be aware they are wearing these cameras, therefore making them less likely to commit acts of police violence. They know each action they make is being constantly recorded and will be looked at and scrutinized if there is a claim of excessive police force. There have been multiple studies done by different universities in different parts of America showing the use of body cameras on police officers has significantly fewer complaints and less violence. One specifically being Wesley G. Jenning 's experiment “Evaluating the Impact of Police Officer Body-Worn Cameras (BWCs): The Orlando Police Department (OPD) Experience,” where
…show more content…
The body worn cameras show a point of view inadequately shown from just the standard dashboard camera on the cop cars by giving us an insight on exactly what the officer sees during an interaction. The cameras should be worn on the head via glasses for various reasons, one being that this is the ideal position for these body cameras as use of evidence, because when worn on the body the lens of the camera has the potential to be covered up accidentally while the officers arms are outreached or other common movements the officer may not be aware of throughout the day, therefore making the evidence caught on video inadmissible in a court setting. The camera mounted on the head would also give us the view the officer is seeing, which is where the most important action is taking place, whereas the camera worn on the body has the potential to be turned away from the action, due to the officer trying to shield themselves. Dashboard cameras gave a one-point view of the action, which can be easily deemed unfit as evidence due to natural occurrences such as the entire ordeal happening off frame due to each person naturally moving, or the subject fleeing on foot in a small alleyway or fenced area, which cop cars are unable to access, thus leaving us with a simple he-said she-said situation. These body cameras would give us an insight on the victim being detained, the exact words exchanged, the tones used, the amount of forced used, et cetera. Blake M. David proves in his article “Body Worn Cameras: Comparing Human And Device To Ensure Unbiased Investigations” that “The use of video evidence in this context is not entirely new as police vehicles have had mounted cameras for over 20 years. The uniqueness of the BWC is readily apparent in its allowance for a previously unavailable point of view. BWCs allow the investigator to feel directly engaged in the event as if they had experienced the
The body worn cameras show a point of view inadequately shown from just the standard dashboard camera on the cop cars by giving us an insight on exactly what the officer sees during an interaction. The cameras should be worn on the head via glasses for various reasons, one being that this is the ideal position for these body cameras as use of evidence, because when worn on the body the lens of the camera has the potential to be covered up accidentally while the officers arms are outreached or other common movements the officer may not be aware of throughout the day, therefore making the evidence caught on video inadmissible in a court setting. The camera mounted on the head would also give us the view the officer is seeing, which is where the most important action is taking place, whereas the camera worn on the body has the potential to be turned away from the action, due to the officer trying to shield themselves. Dashboard cameras gave a one-point view of the action, which can be easily deemed unfit as evidence due to natural occurrences such as the entire ordeal happening off frame due to each person naturally moving, or the subject fleeing on foot in a small alleyway or fenced area, which cop cars are unable to access, thus leaving us with a simple he-said she-said situation. These body cameras would give us an insight on the victim being detained, the exact words exchanged, the tones used, the amount of forced used, et cetera. Blake M. David proves in his article “Body Worn Cameras: Comparing Human And Device To Ensure Unbiased Investigations” that “The use of video evidence in this context is not entirely new as police vehicles have had mounted cameras for over 20 years. The uniqueness of the BWC is readily apparent in its allowance for a previously unavailable point of view. BWCs allow the investigator to feel directly engaged in the event as if they had experienced the