Worst Light Analysis

Although many citizens may believe otherwise, it has been proven that the uses of police body cameras are beneficial to all aspects of law enforcement. In the article, “Scholar Warns Body Cams Used to Show Underrepresented in Worst Light,” freelance journalist and well renowned writer Jamaal Abdul-Alim argues that the use of police body cameras will result in the reduction of both complaints against officers and police force. Abdul-Alim supports his main argument when he presents a yearlong study on the effect police body cameras have on law enforcement that states, “Wearing BWC’s by police can reduce both officer use of force and subsequent complaints against officers” (8). Abdul-Alim then goes into the specifics when he provides the reader a statistic that provides exactly how effective the use of these police body cameras are when he states, “The study found that the officers wearing the cameras had 87.5 percent fewer incidents of use of force and 59 percent fewer complaints than the officers not wearing the cameras” (8). The use of this statistic to support Abdul-Alim’s argument perfectly shows the reader how effective the use of police body cameras are when properly used. When forming an argument on a certain topic, incorporating statistics from reliable sources can make an argument exceedingly strong. In retrospect, Abdul-Alim’s article can be considered one of strong validity as he uses this approach to strengthen his overall argument and thus, through statistical evidence, it shows that police body cameras lower crime rates. Additionally, police body cameras are beneficial to society not only because they decrease crime rates, but they also benefit officers in countless ways. In the article, “Candid Cameras,” award-winning journalist Kevin Davis argues that police body cameras are huge assets to officers when retrieving information about their physical interactions with criminals. Davis aids his main statement when he states, “For police, the plus side is that cameras can improve how officers capture evidence. The camera can also provide a record of interrogations and arrests, how officers conduct themselves and what they witness at crime scenes” (15). This quote does an exceptional job of showing the …show more content…
In the article, “Will the widespread use of police body cameras improve police accountability?,” by retired United States District Judge of New York, Shira Scheindlin, and well renowned author, Peter Manning, they claim that there are some drawbacks to the use of police body cameras. Scheindlin and Manning describe these drawbacks when they assert, “There are some drawbacks to the use of body cameras-such as privacy concerns for both officers and the citizens they encounter, the storage of data capturing images of innocent people, the possible tampering with the images, and the accuracy of the images” (25). In essence, this means use of these devices invade personal space by recording private conversations and could possibly be tampered with by the user, which will result in the incrimination of innocent people. However, statistically proven in many different ways it has shown the use of police body cameras is far more beneficial than harmful. More specifically, these studies have shown the use of these devices lower police misconduct rates, improve officer training, improve the resolution of civilian complaints, provide effective evidence for trails, and increase the accountability and clarity of both officer and