Purdue University Global: Body Cam in Police Service Essay

This essay examines the increasing use of body-worn cameras in law enforcement, focusing on their impact on police accountability and transparency. The author argues that body cameras can prevent false accusations and improve police-community relations by serving as an eyewitness to interactions between civilians and officers. The essay discusses the benefits of body cameras, such as increased accountability, prevention of confrontation, and improved transparency, while also acknowledging potential disadvantages like privacy concerns and data storage issues. The author supports the use of body cameras as an essential tool for improving both community relations and the public perception of law enforcement. The essay references several research studies that support the claims and provides a balanced overview of the topic.

Running head: BODY CAM IN POLICE SERVICE
BODY CAM IN POLICE SERVICE
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Introduction
With the invent of a new technology, the police body worn cameras are basically
becoming one of the new trend in the enforcement community of law. Though the systems of
the camera and the surveillance have been a topic of discussion lately, the concept of the body
worn cameras has noticed some of the increased popularity. From the perspective of the general
public, the use of the body worn cameras tends to represent the accountability and the
transparency of the police (Ariel, Farrar & Sutherland, 2015). The uses of these have shown
reasonable improvement towards the factors of behavior and professionalism among the police
officer. Over the years through out, the arrestees, the criminal suspects and some of the other
individuals have lodged numerous of the allegations over the professionalism of the police
officers for use of the excessive forces and the practice of the unlawful and illegal activities
(Feeney, 2015). The effective use of the body cams on the uniform of the police is thus a
measure to make the officers in charge to be more aware regarding their action and the
interactions and less likely to cross the line among the use of the necessary force towards the
apprehension of the suspected and the blatant usage of their force or power.
Thesis Statement
The thesis statement of the essay argues on the concept of the body camera towards the
effective prevention of the false accusations and preventing them from abusing their positions for
lead towards a better relationship among the community people and the officers.
Discussion
The report regarding the instances of the wrongdoings and the violence have drawn some
of the major attention in case of the media and as well as the millions around the world. Various

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of the agencies dealing with the notion of the law enforcements are currently discussing the
usage of the body cameras in the aim that it can act one of the most effective tool towards the
minimization of the usage of the excessive force or the reduction in the number of the false
claims.
In connection to the various research study, the research conducted by Ariel, Farrar and
Sutherland (2015) pointed out that the complains against the police towards being racist and
corrupt in nature have basically become one of the debatable international issues according to the
current context. These challenges of the misconduct and the overuse of the power by the police
force have led towards the increase of the social and the economic costs as a whole. Towards the
descriptive analysis, the study furthermore tested the use of the body cameras by the judgment of
the effects of the video recordings of the randomized incidents. The study by the authors
thoroughly explained the scenario how the police force tends to control situations and how the
use of the body cams can reduce the criticism against the misconducts and ill treatments by the
police. Another instance as recorded by the authors Sousa, Miethe and Sakiyama (2017) in their
study highlighted the opposed view related to transparency. The research study pointed out one
of the major factor that the issues of the lack of the transparency among the police officers is
actually continuing them to use the recordings of the camera towards their advantages without
any of the further criticism (Reaves & Hickman, 1998). These actions are enabling the police
officers to create and develop false narratives regarding what happened. The author of the
research study concluded in his research how the body cameras of the police forces are used to
mirror the power, the techniques and the interest of the force and not for the benefit of the
communities whom the police force sworn to serve.

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Personal Opinion
Body cameras are one of the basic and essential key for the accountability of the police
force (Sousa, Miethe & Sakiyama, 2017). The body cameras and their recordings power towards
the improvement of the policing lies by serving as an eyewitness to the interactions among the
civilians and the police, tragic unfair shootings and federal judgments. The body cameras
provide a compelling set of evidences of the misconduct of the police and can be fruitful for the
use of the training, discipline and prosecuting the officers. While there has been multiple of
benefits regarding the use of the body cameras, certain researches and reports have raised
controversies and concerns pertaining to the use of the cameras (Gaub et al., 2016). These
include the hampering and the eroding of the privacy rights of the police officers, together with
the involvement of the juveniles, the cost towards the maintenance and the acquisitions, the
issues related to the storage of the data and the accessibility of the video towards the general
public. There lies certain other disadvantages in connection to the use of the body cams which
hampers the personal rights and the space of the police force. But in the connection of the
welfare of the community, the wide spread use of the body cameras must be taken as a positive
factor towards the improvement of the accountability of the police force.
This is because, in the long run it is aimed that the body cameras are the essential tool
that can be beneficial for both the communities and the police force. The cameras can
furthermore provide a complete picture of the encounter of the police and also serves towards the
improving of the public perception of the police force (Jennings, Fridell & Lynch, 2014). It can
be summarized that apart from the certain disadvantages, the benefits of the body cameras
include the increase in the accountability of the police, the prevention of the confrontation
situation among the public community and the officers, the easy resolution of the involved

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complaints of the officers and the improvement in the transparency level for the law enforced
agencies.
Conclusion
The use of the body cameras have got various of advantages towards the improvement of
the transparency. It helps in the heightening of the abilities towards the identification and the
correction of the internal law enforcement agencies and for the better performances through the
training and the monitoring. The body cameras and their recordings power towards the
improvement of the policing lies by serving as an eyewitness to the interactions among the
civilians and the police, tragic unfair shootings and federal judgments. Some of the
disadvantages include the hampering and the eroding of the privacy rights of the police officers,
together with the involvement of the juveniles, the cost towards the maintenance and the
acquisitions, the issues related to the storage of the data and the accessibility of the video
towards the general public. Over the years through out, the arrestees, the criminal suspects and
some of the other individuals have lodged numerous of the allegations over the professionalism
of the police officers for use of the excessive forces and the practice of the unlawful and illegal
activities. The essay thus explains the concept of the body camera towards the effective
prevention of the false accusations and preventing them from abusing their positions for lead
towards a better relationship among the community people and the officers.

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References
Ariel, B., Farrar, W. A., & Sutherland, A. (2015). 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), 509-535.
Feeney, M. (2015). Watching the Watchmen: Best Practices for Police Body Cameras. Cato
Institute.
Gaub, J. E., Choate, D. E., Todak, N., Katz, C. M., & White, M. D. (2016). Officer perceptions
of body-worn cameras before and after deployment: A study of three departments. Police
quarterly, 19(3), 275-302.
Jennings, W. G., Fridell, L. A., & Lynch, M. D. (2014). Cops and cameras: Officer perceptions
of the use of body-worn cameras in law enforcement. Journal of Criminal Justice, 42(6),
549-556.
Reaves, B. A., & Hickman, M. J. (1998). Census of state and local law enforcement agencies,
2008. US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs.
Sousa, W. H., Miethe, T. D., &Sakiyama, M. (2017). Inconsistencies in public opinion of body-
worn cameras on police: Transparency, trust, and improved police–citizen relationships.
Policing: A Journal of policy and Practice, 12(1), 100-108.