User:Rnealja

From Tamir Rice, to Trayvon Martin, all the way to Eric Garner, it has become evident that the excessive use of police force against unarmed citizens, better known as police brutality, has become a growing issue. With the number of occurrences of police brutality constantly on the rise, the question becomes should they be required to wear body cameras while on duty along with keeping dash cameras on in their patrol cars?. The purpose of implementing these media devices, according to scholars, would be to monitor the actions of cops and ensure that they are performing their essential job duties without abusing their authority. They can be used to collect evidence from a crime scene or any type of traffic stop. Lately however, a debate has begun over whether or not implementing body cameras and dash cameras has had a negative or positive effect on society and the police force.

Background on Dash Cameras
A dash camera is a video recorder that is placed in the windshield of a patrol car and constantly records while the officer is on duty. The first effort to install cameras in police cars came in the late 1960’s when the Connecticut State Police Department unsuccessfully tried to install a camera on a tripod. In the 1980’s an organization called Mother’s Against Drunk Drivers, brought attention to drunk driving and provided monetary assistance to help equip law enforcement with dash cams to help prosecute people who were being accused of drunk driving. Police forces in Texas also implemented dash cams relatively early. initially, these media devices were purchased to help keep officers who patrolled in rural areas safe. the earlier dash cams were very bulky and expensive, therefore, most law enforcement agencies decided against using them. however, in the early 90’s during the “War on Drugs” dash camera footage was used to show jurors that defendants had consented to having their vehicles searched. Also, in the 90’s more and more citizens began recording police engaging in questionable behavior. Lawsuits were being pursued against officers accusing them of racial profiling during their traffic stops and arrests. As a result, many more police departments began using dash cams.

In-Car Camera incentive Program
Earlier versions of dash cameras were very expensive to purchase. To help defray the cost, in early 2000 the Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) created the In-Car Camera Incentive Program. The purpose of this program was to provide law enforcement agencies with funding to purchase and install dash cameras. Prior to 2000 only about 11% of state police and highway patrol cars had dash cameras in them. By 2003 about 72 percent of state police and highway patrol vehicles were equipped with dash cameras. By the end of 2003 approximately 47 states had received about $21 million in aid.

Background on Body Cameras
A body camera is a small video recording system that police officers and other law enforcement officials typically wear in order to record interactions with the public along with gathering evidence at a crime scene. The first body cameras appeared on the uniforms of the Rialto Police Department (RPD) in 2012 due to a high rise of complaints from citizens about officers using too much force. The RPD launched an experiment in which roughly half of the officers on duty wore body cameras. The results showed an 88 percent decline in complaints against officers. This data sparked a national conversation about body cameras and influenced other police agencies to implement the use of body cameras.

Michael Brown Shooting
When Darren Wilson shot and killed unarmed 18 year old Michael Brown it sparked national and even global outrage. There were no video recordings of the incident and many eyewitness statements often conflicted with one another. When the jury decided not to indict Darren Wilson, the community surrounding Ferguson, Missouri, went into complete chaos. Throughout the weeks following the shooting Michael brown’s family became strong advocates for police wearing body cameras. Ultimately, due to the high number of complaints against Missouri police officers, the Ferguson Police Department adopted body cameras.

The Current Situation
With the recent increase in the number of killings of unarmed african-american men by police officers, many citizens are following in the footsteps of Michael Brown’s family and demanding that police officers wear body cameras. Many officers that commit these murders, claim self-defense as the reasoning behind it. But who really knows what happened if there is no video footage to show it? The debate about the effectiveness of police surveillance is growing more and more by the day.