The Pros And Cons Of Body Cameras
"Officers are supposed to start recording “at the initiation of a call for service or other activity or encounter that is investigative or enforcement-related in nature,” and during any other confrontational encounters, according to the police department’s body camera policy.” Police can also turn off the cameras when a citizen requests them too (Fenton). Body cameras on police officers will decrease the amount of police aggression, unarmed deaths, and complaints, as well as improve the documentation of evidence, therefore helping clear up discrepancies in cases. However, there are purchasing, storage, and privacy concerns involved with body cameras.
Body cameras, if worn correctly, will decrease the amount of police aggression, unarmed deaths, …show more content…
"Experts have expressed concerns about privacy — noting that the cameras may record people not involved in police encounters” (Burman). This is a fair point but a study was done by the Pew Research Center that showed "...the public...with big majorities telling...that they favor the use of such devices [body cameras]” (Burman). Also some police “departments blocked the release of footage" (Burman). Since the film will not be released to the public privacy concerns should be abandoned. A popular concern about body cameras is the cost, some departments will spend “about $440,000 in its first year of using body-cameras, plus an additional $240,000 every year afterward" (Kotowski). As to the worries about the cost of body cameras it will require money but the benefits outweigh the costs. For instance, “mounted police cameras can’t pick up on absolutely everything an officer sees, the video obtained from these cameras can help paint a much clearer picture of what happened in an incident. Police reports, especially in complex situations, can be hard for juries to interpret or visualize. Video evidence removes a lot of that uncertainty” (Erstad). The money spent, is spent to make the cities safer and making court cases proceed faster, which will save money on that end. Another concern is "departments in larger cities, the article says, can generate more than 10,000 hours of video a week,
Body cameras, if worn correctly, will decrease the amount of police aggression, unarmed deaths, …show more content…
"Experts have expressed concerns about privacy — noting that the cameras may record people not involved in police encounters” (Burman). This is a fair point but a study was done by the Pew Research Center that showed "...the public...with big majorities telling...that they favor the use of such devices [body cameras]” (Burman). Also some police “departments blocked the release of footage" (Burman). Since the film will not be released to the public privacy concerns should be abandoned. A popular concern about body cameras is the cost, some departments will spend “about $440,000 in its first year of using body-cameras, plus an additional $240,000 every year afterward" (Kotowski). As to the worries about the cost of body cameras it will require money but the benefits outweigh the costs. For instance, “mounted police cameras can’t pick up on absolutely everything an officer sees, the video obtained from these cameras can help paint a much clearer picture of what happened in an incident. Police reports, especially in complex situations, can be hard for juries to interpret or visualize. Video evidence removes a lot of that uncertainty” (Erstad). The money spent, is spent to make the cities safer and making court cases proceed faster, which will save money on that end. Another concern is "departments in larger cities, the article says, can generate more than 10,000 hours of video a week,