ENG 122 ROUGH DRAFT UPDATE

Instructor Lisa Walsh

October 3, 2016

Police body cameras

Introduction

There have been arguments about the usefulness of police body cameras. Each and every person has come out with his or her own justification. There are people who strongly believe that a police is being denied his or her privacy right while at the same time there are people who believe that body cameras are meant to improve the security of the policeman. With all the arguments, it has become hard for the police departments that want to implement the body cameras policy to do so. Based on the facts and the rate of crime in the streets today, body cameras are meant to improve the security of each and every citizen. However, the modern society has been more questioning than looking at the greater good of any action that is taken by either the government or the institutions that are in place. The use of body cameras by the policemen will serve to create better relations between the American public and the police force as it will reduce the chances of misconduct, enhance the push for more great community engagement and will ensure the evaluation of the police officers that allegedly use excessive force.

There are questions revolving around the issue of the police body cameras from many members of the public and some leaders. The implementation of the policy that enforces the use of body cameras in the police units has been faced with opposition from different parts of the country and from different classes of people (Smith, 2015). One of the shocking revelations is how some people passionately oppose the use of police body cameras to serve their personal interests. There are some police departments that have publicly opposed the implementation of the policy that insists on every policeman to have a body camera. There are reasons why the body cameras have been introduced in the police departments. The body cameras are not meant to track or monitor the private movements of the police officers. The body cameras are meant to look after the well-being of the police officer.

Barely four months ago, there were cases of police officers being shot by the members of the public. Tracking down the ruthless members of the public who committed the act was not easy. If the police officers had their body cameras on, it would have been a different case. Getting the suspects would only have taken a few hours (Scalise, 2013). The images that would have been captured by the officers’ body cameras would have been run on the system and in only a few minutes and the suspects would have been apprehended in the shortest time possible. There are different reasons why the use of body cameras should be embraced and supported by the members of public, police departments and the political leaders. Besides people saying all negative things about the police body cameras, there are many positive reasons why the use of body cameras should be embraced. The use of the police body cameras improves the national security, the officers’ security, the public security and it also helps in weeding out the non-competent and corrupt officers in the police departments.

Each and every police officer takes an oath to protect the constitution of the country. The constitution is in place so as to protect each and every citizen of the nation and therefore a police officer’s primary responsibility is to ensure that the security of the nation is not compromised. The use of body cameras helps a police officer to carry out his or her duties without any fear. As a matter of fact, a police officer should be more courageous carrying out his mandate in a body camera because in the case of any arrest there is evidence to back up his or her action. A police officer also takes an oath to abide by the rule of law and to obey the constitution. A body camera helps in weeding out the corrupt officers. With the body camera, a police officer cannot make any arrest without substantial evidence and that is why some police departments are opposing the use of body cameras.

Body cameras will help in reducing the crime rate in different ways (Smith, 2015). When a suspect is aware that a police officer’s is wearing a body camera, the criminal will not take the risk of confronting the police officer. In this case, the body camera will have acted like a scarecrow to the criminals and that will see the rate of crime decreasing. The people who are against the use of body cameras must have a hidden agenda since the advantages of body cameras surpass the disadvantages.

Conclusion

It is the right of any citizen to be protected by the constitution agencies in place. There are different ways that different governments have instituted to improve governance in their respective nations. Technology has evolved and many criminals are using the technology to outsmart the police officers. To ensure that the police officers are not outsmarted by the criminals, the government must use technological means in protecting the citizens. The use of body cameras is one of the technological ways of ensuring that the criminals’ tactics are counter-attacked.

References

Smith, C. (2015). Criminal Justice in America. Boston: Cencage Learning.

Scalise, F. (2013). Police Body Cameras. New York: John Wiley and Sons.