Police Worn Body Cameras
In lieu of past and recent events involving police shootings and mistreatment of those in custody, there 's been a national push for police to wear body cameras and record their day to day work. Recently, police departments around the country have started to really look toward investing into body cameras to combat these problems of authoritative abuse . This may sound good but, there remains one important question. How are these body cameras having a positive impact in stopping police brutality? In two ways I will attempt to solve how this question can be addressed. First of all, explaining the effectiveness of body cameras on field, and back in the station. Secondly, the benefit of body cameras especially for the public …show more content…
What are people basically getting from them that they aren 't getting without? Well for one thing the public is getting is a sense of liability from body cameras. Knowing that the actions of policemen are being recorded brings a sense of ease to someone who worries of what could possibly happen to them. As Karson Kampfe puts it “the demand for PWBCs (Police Worn Body Cameras) increases in response to public distrust of police officers, the most important benefit of PWBCs to the public is the accountability and transparency they can provide. By creating an objective and reviewable record, the PWBCs help resolve questions following otherwise suspect encounters between officer and members of the public. The primary types of encounters that the public is concerned with are those where officers engage in use-of-force, especially officer involved shootings. However, a less publicized—but more prevalent—problem that could be diminished by using PWBCs is the amount of unconstitutional search and seizures performed by police officers”(Kampfe). Not only are cameras offering a form of accountability but there 's almost nothing a police officer can say against you in the case of them using excessive force after being recorded. Although the same can be said for a civilian as their actions are held just as accountable as the
In lieu of past and recent events involving police shootings and mistreatment of those in custody, there 's been a national push for police to wear body cameras and record their day to day work. Recently, police departments around the country have started to really look toward investing into body cameras to combat these problems of authoritative abuse . This may sound good but, there remains one important question. How are these body cameras having a positive impact in stopping police brutality? In two ways I will attempt to solve how this question can be addressed. First of all, explaining the effectiveness of body cameras on field, and back in the station. Secondly, the benefit of body cameras especially for the public …show more content…
What are people basically getting from them that they aren 't getting without? Well for one thing the public is getting is a sense of liability from body cameras. Knowing that the actions of policemen are being recorded brings a sense of ease to someone who worries of what could possibly happen to them. As Karson Kampfe puts it “the demand for PWBCs (Police Worn Body Cameras) increases in response to public distrust of police officers, the most important benefit of PWBCs to the public is the accountability and transparency they can provide. By creating an objective and reviewable record, the PWBCs help resolve questions following otherwise suspect encounters between officer and members of the public. The primary types of encounters that the public is concerned with are those where officers engage in use-of-force, especially officer involved shootings. However, a less publicized—but more prevalent—problem that could be diminished by using PWBCs is the amount of unconstitutional search and seizures performed by police officers”(Kampfe). Not only are cameras offering a form of accountability but there 's almost nothing a police officer can say against you in the case of them using excessive force after being recorded. Although the same can be said for a civilian as their actions are held just as accountable as the