Oddie Shoupe, a Tennessee sheriff has recently been sued for proudly stating to his fellow officers that he loves to kill people (foul language was used) right after they shot and killed a man by the name of Michael Dial. Shoupe made this explicit statement under the assumption that his men’s body cameras were turned off and in the trunk of their squad cars. Fortunately, one of the cameras managed to record the audio. The issue at hand is that body cameras are definitely needed, police dishonesty and brutality is a top issue in the world and if body cameras are used, American citizens and the world in general can rest a little easier. Body cameras can help secure evidence in court, keep the police honest to the citizens, and shed …show more content…
Hong Kong can be described as a very cosmopolitan city with a lot of international influences and there is a lot less crime. Hong Kong believes that the use of body cameras will allow their officers to better prevent and detect crimes and offenses. The people of Hong Kong are afraid of being filmed for the reason being that they are not sure where exactly the footage may be used and how will it be preserved. Although, the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor director Law Yuk-Kai says that filming random interactions with the public could breach Hong Kongers’ “constitutional right to privacy” and threaten the city’s cherished freedoms (AFP, 2012). There seemed to be a lot of controversy when adopting the cameras in Hong Kong affecting the people and what they felt like invasion in their privacy. According to Simon Young, director of the Center for Comparative and Public Law at Hong Kong University mentions that the Hong Kong law prohibits police officers from recording citizens if it breaches the public’s expectation of privacy, generally interpreted as any private space (Trinna Leong, 2012). Hong Kong officer’s do not have an issue about the body cameras or wearing it, but caution needs to be exercised in the usage of it when risking the invasion of the citizens privacy. But, there has also been police brutality; seven police officers from Hong Kong had beaten a protestant by the name of Ken Tsang he was knocked to the …show more content…
Body-worn cameras are definitely the future of policing, however there is still a lot of work to be done in addressing the concerns of privacy. Body cameras alone will not solve the issues that have materialized over the history of policing, but they are a really good way to start showing that police departments want to be transparent and start holding themselves accountable for their actions. This is a huge step in improving police and minority
The civilians saying that the extra eyes make sure they are treated fairly, and the officers saying that the cameras can help prevent them from being penalized for action that should have been taken. On the other end are those still uncomfortable with their crimes being recorded and officers who think that the body cameras are excessive and
Police body cameras Police body cameras are a type of video recording system, which used by law enforcement to record their behavior with the people, and also known to increase both police officers and citizens liability. One of the causes that made body cameras almost mandatory was police brutality against citizens, and especially black people. The other cause is just the inconsistency what the police says, and what the people say, why always people should think that the police officer is telling the truth.
In Fort Worth, an officer Sikes gave an anecdote that boils down to him having experiences where people would begin aggrandize their reactions and they would begin to calm down once they knew they were being recorded. Secondly, many police officers actually want body cameras to protect themselves against false accusations or brutality, discrimination, and many other things. In Denton County, there was a specific incident where a witness video just showed the perspective where the cop unjustly tases an African American at a NAACP protest. However, that police officers body cameras saved him in the lawsuit because it revealed that the had actually warned the person by saying “get back” multiple times before any actions were
If you pay attention to the news, you have probably heard about police brutality. There are almost constant reports of police abusing their power and, consequently, injuring those that they are meant to protect. Police should not be required to wear body cameras while on duty! Why should they be monitored to make sure that they are properly doing their job? Why should they be expected maintain the same standards that they enforce on others?
It’s no secret that everyone holds their own opinion regarding the actions of police officers and other positions of authority within these past years, be it positive or negative. From the shootings of innocent and unarmed civilians to disciplinary action being taken against those that haven’t done anything unlawful, there’s rarely a day when the police force of the United States doesn’t find itself involved in some sort of controversy. No matter what side people find themselves supporting in these instances, be it the police or the civilian, it’s true that both sides can benefit from the use of these police body cameras. Police body cameras hold one main purpose and that’s to deteriorate the ever-present risk of unnecessary aggression on
Police officers are meant to enforce the law, but why in some cases, does the law not adhere to them? With that being said, police officers need to be held accountable for such intolerable acts and need to be shown some sort of punishment because too many innocent men, women, and even kids are paying the price for the officers’ mistakes. As a way to try to prevent police brutalities and misconduct, body-worn cameras have been issued to document the behavior of police officers. This might have sounded like a good idea to stop police
Police Body Cameras Should be Taken Into Consideration “ In Rialto, California, a police department has been using body mounted cameras and recording what happens between officers and the public. The use of force by officers declined 60% during the first year the cameras were introduced and citizen complaints against officers dropped by 88% (Safety vision). This statistic proves the debate of police body cameras or not.
Have you ever seen a police officer wearing a body camera? If you did, you are one of a kind, we are still debating if the police should wear them. The video recordings from body cameras provide valuable evidence while raising high concerns of privacy. The recordings cameras provide are valuable when police and civilian witness differ. I believe that police officers should wear body cameras for two important reasons.
Although officers claim they aren’t as unprofessional as everyone says, many people beg to differ. A lot of people have evidence on how they were mistreated, and how the officers weren’t at all professional. Others have been killed and seriously injured, but the idea is still up in the air after several years. To protect themselves, and others around them, police officers should be forced to wear body cameras while they’re in a case or are talking to a suspect while on duty. Having to wear body cameras would be a positive way to help the authorities to see the truth better than just having to listen to the voice recorder.
Now there is two possible outcomes, there was police misconduct and abuse of power, or the police officer did everything correctly and by the book. Either way there needs to be something that can protect the public from police misconduct and also protect law enforcement from dealing with false accusations that can tarnish their reputation. That is why body worn cameras need to be mandatory for all police officers to wear because it protects the public and the police officers that are wearing them. A couple positive outcomes police officers wearing body cameras is how they can lower police officers misuse of authority and also lower false complaints against officers as well. These are two
Arizona State University 's Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety on body camera studies, Professor Michael D. White states “Body-worn cameras (BWCs) are perhaps the most debated topic in policing today. Advocates and critics have made numerous claims about the impact and consequences of the technology, but most of these claims are untested. BWCs have the potential to completely transform police-citizen encounters, and in the wake of the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, adoption of the technology is likely to be exponential. This transformation, in the virtual absence of empirical evidence on BWCs, is profoundly troubling.” So although there are many pros and cons to body worn cameras by police officers, the benefits surely outweigh the negatives and more studies are being conducted to prove
The reason why officers do not have them on at all times is because they don’t want to be recording very pointless stuff when it’s gonna be wasting the memory of the camera body. Officers turn it on when they are getting off the car or anytime they feel something suspicious is happening. This society is not one that feels protected, but knows when an officer know from right and wrong, many will fight back to have that freedom of speech but it is never really heard from anyone. Officers also know the fact that they are being watched so they can be more careful on how they arrest/ take down a person. This gives a positive point of view to both citizens and police officers.
Although some people may not like body cams, their benefits are too important to ignore. There has been many citizens that have complained about the use of body cameras. Police Officers have commented that these body cameras invade unwanted personal privacy. Some Police Officers believe that body cameras will not help decrease force by Police Officers because a
Body cameras are seen as an invasion of privacy, as they provide state-owned footage. When police cameras are on, they will capture everyday civilian and police behavior that does not necessarily need to be recorded. Because it is not practical to have cameras play constantly, there must be guidelines for when police should turn their cameras on and off. Many current policies encourage the cameras to be turned on only when police are among the public (Baum,