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 …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