Body Cameras Importance for Police officers

Introduction

In the world of modernism and advanced technology, it is necessary for everyone to get the maximum possible benefit from it. Due to the advancement of the safety and protection of the cities, the street cameras are essential and to keep track of the activities happening around, by and in accordance to the police staff, it is necessary to equip the staff with the required devices which would be helpful in elaborations of the crime scene details. In the United States, the use of body cameras are essential for the police officers so that the police officers, as well as the criminal’s behavior, could be understood without any ambiguity. That’s why it can be commonly observed that the use of body cameras is necessary for the police officers for their security and protection of them from the legal actions against any additional claims. The main aim of the paper is to discuss the importance of the body cameras for the police officers.

Discussion

The world is highly engaged with the technology, and the use of cameras is everywhere. While walking on the street, on every turn, and on every crossing, there would be seen highly advanced CCTV and other monitoring cameras connected to the live control room departments. This helps to track back every movement and the action which is expected to be suspicious. Due to the growth of the cities, the crime issues, accidents, and uncertain activities raised to quite higher limits which resulted in the requirement of the body cameras on the police officers. Currently, in all over the United States and many different parts of the world, the use of body cameras is made essential and part of the uniform for the police officers (Ariel et al., 509-535). They are helpful for the police officers as well as for everyone else to explain the situation after the scene.

The body cameras are expected to be portable and compact, and a police officer is required to wear the camera throughout the shift. They are so small in size and typically equal to the size of the card’s deck. They could be mounted to the sunglasses, lapels, uniform collars, helmets, and on the belt. Some cameras have the microphones installed in them which results in catching the real-time situation of the scene (Harris, 357). These cameras are supposed to show off the person who is supposed to be suspected and have attempted something which is legally concerning.

Legislature

There are many arguments discussed in favor of keeping the security cameras with the uniform. One of the most important uses of the camera recording is to win the court against the individual who made any violation of the laws, and there is no way to prove it. There are many cases in which the citizens do not trust the police officers and the law enforcement authorities. Because of the terrible history of the unnecessary actions of some disgruntled police officers, the need of the cameras is a necessity. It makes a police officer be reminded that he is also being observed and a citizen can file a case against him of his violent activities.

Social Activists

There are some rumors in which the United States police is considered to be racist and kills the Mexican and African-American for unnecessary reasons or sometimes for no reasons (Smykla et al., 424-443). This concept is almost confirmed to be completely wrong, but without a body camera, the policeman is unable to prove it. For this purpose, the police officers should be with the cameras. It allows them to explain their part for the clarification of the scene but also protects them from any unnecessary legal actions (Jennings et al., 549-556). The social analysts explain that because of the body cameras an outnumbered unanswered question would be resolved. The camera will speak in the courts for demonstrating that if either an incident happened at the situation or not and if there is something which happened than who would be favored for it and who would be guilty.

Law Enforcement Agencies

The use of cameras helps the citizens to calm down in front of the police officers, and it mostly let them not to create any violence at all. This helps the citizens to become safe from the use of weapons at all. The transparency and the accountability are highly increased. The protection is granted on both sides of the lens. There are some cases in which the citizens have accused the unnecessary arrest or the use of weapons at the scene. In the recent decade, there are almost uncountable cases of deaths from the police gun and the reasons didn’t justify the deaths which caused the rejoin of the police officer as a regular staff person.

Individual Police Officers

There are concerns about the privacy. The policemen are supposed to wear the body camera, but because of the privacy, many police officers are unable to get used to the body cameras. The invasion of the privacy is considered as an issue, but the proper discussion also resolves this issue. The policeman has t wear the body cameras only during his shift so when he is working during his working hours than the job must be concentrated rather than the privacy. It is helpful for the police officers to wear the body cameras so many arguments say that the police officers should not be able to face any disobedience and violent activities in front of them.

Overview

A study evaluated that the use of body cameras have highly affected the interactions between the civilians and the policemen. The interaction became highly promising and satisfactory. In Orlando, during the last complete year the force incidents were dropped up to 53% and also the other trials showed some similar encouragements. This helps in understanding the importance of the body cameras on the police officers and their monitoring.

The benefits of the camera include the complete transparency which consists of the ability of everyone to review the details of the interaction among the officers as well as the citizens (Ariel et al., 509-535). The training as well as the counseling of the officers as well as the citizens would be performed unambiguously while knowing the situation by reviewing through camera captures and could also be evaluated. These body cameras are also helpful in giving a valuable public relations benefits to the police department. The video, as well as the audio devices, are required as evidence for recoding the victim’s as well as the witness statement at the same time. In the end, this video, as well as the audio clips, will be necessary for reviewing the case altogether.

The law enforcement agencies in all over the world appreciate the body camera usage on the law enforcement agents or in other words the police officers. There sometimes comes the situations when the people give ambiguous statements which create the case highly disturbing and time taking. The recorded stuff helps in clarifying the case entirely. The body cameras are one of the best tools for solving a lot number of problems. There are some misunderstandings which resulted in the damage of the relationship among the civilians and the police officers. Many people complain about the police officers horrors of violence in the communities (Harris, 357). These violence’s have caused great damage to the police departments and other government institutes. The social advocates have calmed that the security cameras could be considered as most vital tools for the improvement of the community relationships with the police officers. This practice could also be helpful in saving some lives. These are minor details which were required to solve some simple cases. The body camera use gives proof and evidence about the detail (Jennings et al., 549-556). It helps the police officers as well as the civilians in all ways. There would be improvements with the improvement in the technology which will help in body camera advancements as well.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, it can be explained that the importance of the body cameras is understood is adequately discussed in the paper. The police officers need them for their entire shift. They helped in regaining the proud of the nation. Among some other problems, the police officer’s security cameras are always required for the safety of everyone including the police officer as well as the person accused of violent activity. The transparency of the scene increases. In many conditions when the police officers are required to act against the violent actions inside the homes or building premises that these cameras are the only proofs which could help the police officers to protect themselves from the violence as well as the activities which include the legal actions against them. United States, Canada, Australia and many parts of Europe have entirely implemented the system of recording the police officers movements, and according to them, the activities happened in the area of the incident. If the body cameras will be adequately and adequately used then it is a probability that at least in front of a police officer or a CCTV, the crime and violence will be eliminated from the cities.

Works Cited

Jennings, Wesley G., Lorie A. Fridell, and Mathew D. Lynch. “Cops and cameras: Officer perceptions of the use of body-worn cameras in law enforcement.” Journal of Criminal Justice42.6 (2014): 549-556.

Ariel, Barak, William A. Farrar, and Alex Sutherland. “The effect of police body-worn cameras on use of force and citizens’ complaints against the police: A randomized controlled trial.” Journal of quantitative criminology 31.3 (2015): 509-535.

Harris, David A. “Picture this: Body-worn video devices (heads cams) as tools for ensuring fourth amendment compliance by police.” Tex. Tech L. Rev. 43 (2010): 357.

Smykla, John Ortiz, et al. “Police body-worn cameras: Perceptions of law enforcement leadership.” American journal of criminal justice 41.3 (2016): 424-443.