Divakaran 1

Sayan Divakaran
May 12 2017
ENG 3U1
Ms. Jeon
Officers should have body cameras - Essay

Police brutality is a term that is commonly thrown around after a shooting

towards the minority. Is there a way to stop it? Or is there a way we can make them

think twice before doing their actions. To help stop this, body cameras must be

implemented. They can come in useful within court systems, help police think

twice about their actions and finally, help stop violence towards others.

While officers are out in the field performing duties, body cameras are a

necessity. A person who is against body camera could argue how officers might not

respect the privacy of others. We live in a society where we can blur out other

people faces and change their voice if they request to do so. As seen on T.V, people

like spies who could be killed if they say stuff they are not supposed to say will

have their faces blurred and sometimes their voice would be changed to a deep

voice. Also, citizens have all their rights to request them to not record because of

privacy, and officers will have to do so because officers dont want to get sued or

have a complaint towards them.

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Body cameras are a great tool for the justice system to help determine where

a criminal is guilty or innocent much faster. A usual court date could take from

months to years, which also wastes tons of money. With the help of body cameras,

cases could be solved so much faster. Sometimes, a witness may not sometimes

step up to plead their case because they are afraid of being hurt or anything else

worse. So, if they dont step up for their case, officers with body cameras can help

fill in for the witness and finish the case much faster. Also, if officers have access

to these body cameras, people could think twice about their actions in front of an

officer. Many people perform stunts on purpose and a lot of them do not get

charged for these acts. So, if we add body cameras to these officers, people who

want to perform these acts will rethink about their choice of performing these acts

or in other words, members of the public would give less complaints as they could

be turned down quickly with evidence from cameras. For more proof, a Rialto

study was performed that wearing cameras reduced complaints by 88%. This

shows how body camera changed and benefit for both cops and civilians.

Another great thing about officers with body cameras is that they can act the

way a real officer should. After the shootings of innocent blacks, some infamous

incidents like Alton Sterling and the Philando Castile. Many active protests

like Black lives Matter started to riot against these rouge cops. The officer who

shot Mr. Castile was pleaded NOT Guilty for his murder. One major factor was the
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insufficient amount of evidence. If officers have had body cameras, all of this

could have been avoided. According to the University of California (2012), A

research was conducted and it was discovered that a study is based on a 12-month

experiment conducted in Rialto, Calif., in 2012. During that time, use-of-force by

officers wearing cameras fell by 59 percent and reports against officers dropped by

87 percent against the previous years figures, according to the researchers. Also,

Mr. Obama stated a 75-Million-dollar fund onto body cameras after the murder of

several innocent of black men. This is a positive step for our society of the

elimination of violent cops and starting to make them do their jobs properly.

Another great thing how they can also change their behavior is that people will

stop trusting them. Places with high murder rates with high murder rates are also

really scared of the cops. Places like Chicago and Detroit, where cops could be

rogue. So, if cameras are also planted onto their bodies, this forces them to change

their behavior and people could start regaining their trust toward them.

The final point how police officer must have body cameras is that, it helps

prevent violence with the usage of body cameras. As stated in the first paragraph,

officers would receive less complaints and studys showing the drop in rogue

cops. According to Fox news (2012), it was stated that In the year before they

wore body cameras, the officers used force an average of 3.5 times. The year

before that, it went down by half. As it has been stated, this was a win/win
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situation for both the public and the police. A video was surfaced by a body camera

where in Atlanta, an actress known as Reese Witherspoon was arrested for drunk

driving. If that officer did not have a body camera, many speculated that it would

have went a dark turn. But since that officer did have a body camera, they selected

the best choice. So it we are starting to notice, officers are trying their best to not

perform violent acts, but actually the right way they act because cameras are

watching them.

Therefore, in conclusion Police body cameras must be implemented onto

every police officer bodies. This is because it benefits the justice system, the way

an officer should act, and finally how we could reduce violence. These are the

steps into a good future and great relationships between cops and the civilians and

may end the word Police Brutality and give the biggest support towards them.
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Citations Page

Gilmartin, Kevin M. Emotional survival for law enforcement: a guide for officers and their

families. Tucson, AZ: E-S Press, 2002. Print.

Fieldstadt, Elisha. "Should Every Police Officer be Outfitted With a Body Camera?"

NBCNews.com. NBCUniversal News Group, 26 Nov. 2014. Web. 12 May 2017.

<http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/should-every-police-officer-be-outfitted-

body-camera-n256881>.

Lissit, Robbert, RL. "Gotcha!" (n.d.): n. pag. SIRS. Web. 12 May 2017.

Lopez, German. "Why the police body camera issue isn't as simple as giving a camera to every

cop." Vox. Vox, 17 Sept. 2014. Web. 12 May 2017. <https://www.vox.com/2014/9/17/6113045/police-

worn-body-cameras-explained>.

Weiner, Rachel. "Police body cameras spur privacy debate." The Washington Post. WP Company,

10 Nov. 2013. Web. 12 May 2017. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/police-body-cameras-

spur-privacy-debate/2013/11/10/7e9ee504-2549-11e3-b75d-5b7f66349852_story.html?

utm_term=.f22a9fd55116>.