Nine hundred and sixty five civilians were shot and killed by police officers in the United States in 2015 (Kindy). Due to the amount of people killed by police as well as the over representation of black males in that number, many instances of police brutality and excessive force have become racially charged public issues through social media. This has caused distrust to grow substantially over the last few years between the police and the people they are supposed to protect. One proposed solution to the growing number of police brutality cases as well as the growing distrust towards the police is body cameras worn by police. All police officers should be required to use body cameras despite privacy concerns because footage from body cameras
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This argument stems from the fact that footage from police body cameras is public record, meaning that anybody can access the videos, even videos from school police because, "records kept by school police are not subject to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act" (Blad). There are concerns that this compromises the privacy of students because, "footage of students getting in fights or making mistakes could become an unshakeable part of their reputations and digital footprints" (Blad). However, there are instances of school police being too forceful with students, the most known example being the cellphone video of a young girl getting flung out of her desk and wrestled to the ground for misuse of her cellphone (Blad). Footage from schools can become public, but there are instances of school police officers being forceful with students so the need to protect students from police brutality outweighs privacy concerns. People are also concerned that the cameras would invade the privacy of those officers who wear them ("Five Myths"). Cameras will not be on all the time, only, "for vehicle and pedestrian stops and pursuits, traffic accidents, and during interviews of suspects, victims or witnesses" (Boone). This means that the officers daily activities such as going to the bathroom or eating will not be filmed. It is possible …show more content…
Body cameras help the civilians by providing the security of an unbiased and true account of all instances of police brutality. They also help the police by serving as proof in cases where they are wrongly accused of brutality and improving the trust between the police and civilians. The concerns that have been raised about student privacy are outweighed by the need to protect the safety of students while they’re in school. Body cameras are an important step in ending the use of brutality and excessive force by
This argument stems from the fact that footage from police body cameras is public record, meaning that anybody can access the videos, even videos from school police because, "records kept by school police are not subject to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act" (Blad). There are concerns that this compromises the privacy of students because, "footage of students getting in fights or making mistakes could become an unshakeable part of their reputations and digital footprints" (Blad). However, there are instances of school police being too forceful with students, the most known example being the cellphone video of a young girl getting flung out of her desk and wrestled to the ground for misuse of her cellphone (Blad). Footage from schools can become public, but there are instances of school police officers being forceful with students so the need to protect students from police brutality outweighs privacy concerns. People are also concerned that the cameras would invade the privacy of those officers who wear them ("Five Myths"). Cameras will not be on all the time, only, "for vehicle and pedestrian stops and pursuits, traffic accidents, and during interviews of suspects, victims or witnesses" (Boone). This means that the officers daily activities such as going to the bathroom or eating will not be filmed. It is possible …show more content…
Body cameras help the civilians by providing the security of an unbiased and true account of all instances of police brutality. They also help the police by serving as proof in cases where they are wrongly accused of brutality and improving the trust between the police and civilians. The concerns that have been raised about student privacy are outweighed by the need to protect the safety of students while they’re in school. Body cameras are an important step in ending the use of brutality and excessive force by