Pro Body Cameras Essay

The Need for Body Cameras in Columbus, Ohio Police Department
In light of the tremendous scandals involving the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, the police, as an institution, has come under an unprecedented amount of criticism from various advocacy groups. Moreover, similar events have continued to take place and the distrust in police has reached unsustainable levels. Certainly, the Columbus, Ohio Police Department has not been immune to the similar events. Just last month, Marese Collins, who was 23 year old, was shot after a clash with the police. There is little evidence that he fired at the police at the time of the shooting though testimonies exist that he had fired at the officers several minutes prior to the shooting …show more content…
Body cameras represent a unique opportunity to solve a series of problems that have plagued police forces for years. First and foremost, body cameras can end the problem of the abuse of power on the part of police officers. Whether or not all the accusations against police officers that have gained media spotlight are correct, it is clear that the public image of police forces has deteriorated and it has fallen the most among the sectors of the population where it is most needed. Namely, the poor and vulnerable young men in crime-ridden areas are now much more likely to distrust police and to turn to illegal activities. There is no doubt that abuse of power on the part of police officers is a frequent phenomenon and it has to be eliminated. Studies have done in Great Britain have shown that body cameras reduce the number of complaints against police officers on the grounds of excessive use of power drastically (Harris 2010). These studies were conducted in situations where only the police officers involved knew about the existence of cameras and the general public did not so the decline in accusations must have resulted from a real drop in violence on the part of police