Pros And Cons Of Police Body Cameras

Recently, police departments across the country have received much scrutiny for recent actions. The latest installment to the never-ending saga, that we all follow on the evening news, is the highly controversial topic of police body cameras. These cameras would attempt to provide an officers perspective to difficult situations and might help explain the actions of our police officers. Two recent articles published by the L.A. Times and The New York Times outline the pros and cons to making body cameras standard issue. The article published by the L.A. Times written by Matt Pearce takes a negative stance on the topic. The article clearly outlines the cons to body cameras and provides little insight to their benefits. The article published by
Times outlines the major concerns surrounding the use of police body cameras. The article stresses two of the major scrutinies, privacy and the lack of official policy. With regard to issues over privacy, especially in cases involving domestic violence or rape victims, many worry the body cameras will not be used for their intended purpose; to capture events from an officers point of view. One Police Chief from Grand Junction, Colorado, John Cramper, remains torn. He wants citizens to feel free to talk to his officers as a trusted confidant and fears people will not be as open while being recorded on camera. Cramper, among other experts on the issue, strongly suggests that victims and witnesses should only be filmed with their explicit consent. Another notable skeptic, Missouri state Rep. Jeff Roorda, with regard to dashboard cameras states, “Instead of the cameras being there to protect officers, they get disciplined for petty stuff constantly…” Another legitimate concern expressed in the article is the issue concerning the lack of policy. “Faced with the challenge of striking a balance between transparency and privacy for citizens U.S. law enforcement agencies have not adopted a uniform policy for body cameras…” The article cites a recent federal survey of 63 law enforcement agencies across the country implemented the use of body cameras in the police force. The report states that nearly a third of these agencies have no
Some consider Rialto, California the poster city for “the high-tech measure intended to police the police”. After beginning the program in February of 2012 complaints filed against officers fell by nearly 88 percent and use of force by officers fell by 60 percent. The Rialto Police Chief has made body cameras standard issue since then and states, “When you put a camera on a police officer, they tend to behave a little better… And if a citizen knows the officer is wearing a camera, chances are the citizen will behave a little better [too].” William J. Bratton, who has led the police departments in New York and Los Angles hopes that body cameras will offer an objective perspective in investigations and that more often than not, officers tend to benefit. An underestimated benefit of the body cameras is the swift resolution to complaints. Citizens have come to the police station to file a complaint and decide against it after reviewing video of the incident. In other cases, however, officer misconduct has been corroborated by video recordings. Astonishingly, thus far, no complaints have been filed against police body cameras themselves. Sargent Hice of Rialto states, “It [the body cameras] captures what’s really occurring in real time.” This allows agencies to quickly