Criminal Justice - Short Writing Incidents of police brutality caught on camera

Question

Criminal Justice - Short Writing

Incidents of police brutality caught on camera in Los Angeles and New York have recently raised questions about the excessive use of force and the need for more police training. A number of police departments maintain that civilian recordings of these incidents do not capture the full picture of these events, and some have responded by outfitting police officers with personal cameras. The intervention is based on the assumption that people who know they are being watched tend to behave much better.

Police departments across the country have adopted a range of creative—and controversial—strategies to improve police patrol within limited budgets. Officers often face potentially dangerous situations in which citizens respond negatively to even routine traffic stops. Although the need to exert authority is an important aspect of policing, experienced and unexperienced police officers alike may find it difficult to determine where to draw the line. The Rialto Police Department was the first to outfit police officers with body cameras. The large reduction in complaints against police officers for excessive force suggests that the initiative is working.

Given what you have learned about police strategies in Chapter 6, please answer the following:

Should police body cameras be required by all police departments? Explain. Are there any exceptions when the camera should not be used? Explain.

(250 word minimum response required)

Explanation / Answer

At times, there is a dire need of cameras to detect the crime and the shooting provides a very good footage that may even be used for court proceedings. Therefore, now-a-days it is mandatory to put on cameras on crossings. At times, even the police have to wear cameras so that they are not mistakenly accused of perpetrating violence against the common people.

Therefore, policemen are asked to wear body cameras, to protect themselves from getting stuck into unnecessary controversy. These cameras help the policemen to record their interactions with the general public and also to record videos of crime scenes. These help in increasing the accountability of both the public and the police in their crime scenes. But the general public, at times, accuse the police officers are protected because of wearing the body cameras.

It is assumed that at times, memory gets affected by witnessing something traumatic, wearing a camera in such a scenario, helps to gather first hand evidence of the whole crime situation. This may also act as a kind of witness in the court proceedings. Body cameras also put a check and balance on the police personnel and deter them in something not good for the psyche of the effected persons.

Though camera images act as a deterrent for unnecessarily charging and accusing someone, it has been that people have been very offensive of body cameras. They report that it intrudes their right to privacy. Therefore, clear rules and ethical concerns must be in place before the policemen start wearing these body cameras. A balance, thus, needs to be maintained to protect the private and personal life of the suspect, onlookers and other witnesses.

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