A growing number of police departments, more than 95 percent of them, around the US today have been increasingly turning to adopting body camera technology for their officers on duty.
It's not just the people themselves who have seemingly grown more comfortable with pulling out their phone and getting the camera rolling when they see an officer engaged in questionable behavior.
And in some instances where they have introduced the cameras, complaints have been drastically cut (sometimes as much as 90+ percent) against officers and their department.
The hope is that for officers who know that they might be watched via the camera, that hopefully they will act more professional. However, cameras have still been able to be tampered with and officers have been able to turn them off.
As well, other reports have found that officers might be just as likely to get violent when they have the camera rolling, than when they don't. And not only that, but another analysis of the cameras has also indicated that officers might be more prone to assaults if they wear the camera.
For the most part, researchers suggest that the cameras might not be having as great an effect on keeping officers from abusing their authority as some thought they might.
According to one study that analyzed officers in Washington who had been wearing the cameras, they were about as likely to have complaints logged against them as officers who hadn't been wearing cameras.
But that hasn't been the case everywhere, in places like California it was reported that the cameras contributed to a drastic decline in complaints against officers.
Along with the concerns over whether or not the cameras are effective, there is also the worry for privacy concerns.
And some circumstances when officers might not be able to keep the cameras rolling is whenever there might be a child or sexual assault victim being interviewed, if people have any religious or cultural objections to the filming, or if officers are going to be entering a house without a warrant and there isn't any crime nor emergency in progress at that time.
A Hefty Cost...
The body camera program has cost taxpayers millions of dollars and there is also a hefty cost that comes along with video management services for that data, costs for support staff, and more. For Seattle alone for example, it's estimated that the camera program will cost them more than $1.4 million.
As well, the cameras don't catch all of the activity mind you. There could still be issues with accountability seeing as the cameras cannot encapsulate the officer's perception exactly as it is. In other words, there could be times when something takes place that might seem threatening to the officer etc, that the camera doesn't capture and therefore cannot corroborate.
According to the president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, Kevin Stuckey, the union has launched a labor complaint with the Public Employment Relations Commission in the state and they are suggesting that the body cameras for officers need to be negotiated so that specific scenarios can be discussed.
Human rights groups and civil liberties advocates have for quite some time now strongly urged caution when it comes to officers adopting the body camera technology. They have repeatedly suggested that we should look to sharply limit the use of such biometric technology.
The cameras might have been marketed as some sort of quick-fix for police accountability, but solving the issue isn't going to be that simple.
Pics:
Pixabay
via mercurynews.com
Wesley B. Edrosian via americasquarterly.org
Sources:
http://www.kiro7.com/news/local/millions-of-dollars-privacy-concerns-surround-seattle-police-department-body-camera-program/692859188
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-37502136
https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/03/police-complaints-drop-93-percent-after-deploying-body-cameras/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/04/california-police-body-cameras-cuts-violence-complaints-rialto
https://gizmodo.com/cops-wearing-body-cameras-are-more-likely-to-be-assault-1777104650
http://www.chicagotribune.com/la-me-ln-lapd-body-cameras-20150331-story.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/baltimore-police-officer-who-turned-off-body-camera-charged-with-tampering-with-evidence/2018/01/24/6c6700ae-015b-11e8-bb03-722769454f82_story.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/police-body-camera-study-finds-complaints-against-officers-did-not-drop/2017/10/20/4ff35838-b42f-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/20/us/police-body-camera-study.html
Related Posts:
Filming The Police In Public
https://steemit.com/government/@doitvoluntarily/filming-the-police-in-public
Only the good cops who believe they have nothing to hide are happy with the cameras. And it is true, they deal with a lot of shtupid people doing shtupid shit. That you really need video footage to believe, it is that shtupid.
But, how many times has footage mysteriously disappeared. Or the footage wasn't allowed into court. Or the police officers wouldn't comply with the subpoena for the footage. Again it is everything... will be used against you. (and nothing will be used for you)
So, in the end. The good guys will do good, and the bad guys will do bad. With or without a camera. So, in some instances, it is just the same as it was before.
This measure seems very good, I think it can reduce a lot of abuses by the police, it would be very good to implement in all countries, especially here in Argentina, that there is abuse of authority and much corruption on the part of officers
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I disagree with your article, it assumes people aren't worth the money it costs to protect them. Holding those who are supposed to protect them accountable is worth the monetary cost. If you examine the monetary system it doesn't work forever anyway. We only compile debt and never resolve it... What does it matter if things cost money if we don't have to that money back?
The article wasn't only referring to financial cost.. perhaps you didn't read it?
I personally like the idea because I would pull out my camera if I thought something unjust was happening. Police need more oversight in my opinion.. and if their camera happens to "turn off" then it should automatically be noted "lack of evidence" on their part.
Perhaps another option to try would be to only have microphones instead of cameras. They don't have as much of a problem with field-of-view. People will still know that conversations with the officers will still be on record. They can't record a person's property. Not as useful for armed conflicts, though.
In some cases, camera or filming is needed, but still not always.
There are "rude" activities or harshing approachment in intograting the suspec or criminals.
Shortly, new technology and new policy always have two sides (negative and positive).
Maybe it jibes in US as great country.
The cost for body cameras has surely dropped over time and will only become cheaper and hopefully more secure as time goes by. The big deal when the first came out was where do you store it all and etc like that.
I am all for body cameras, but as you say.. it seems when the situation becomes intense often times the cameras go off. During the stop in Oregon when Levoy Finnicum got shot the FBI made the Oregon police all turn their cameras off..
I think that there needs to be some clear guidelines on when and when they cant run body camera, and punishments along with it. I don't know though, if a cop entered my house I would prefer there was a camera on as long as I could defend myself in court with the footage, or my family can get proper reparations if things went bad and I had to pull up my pants while I crawl across the hall.
Nothing is ever just black and white though. thanks for the thoughts.
I would be more motivated to see focus being put on the independent investigation of police actions. It has been over a decade in the making, but one wrongful death case lead to
While this law only relates to police homicides, there are plenty of those occurring. Maybe removing the investigative duties from the departments could free up resources of time and energy for training, counseling...sounds like both could be beneficial!
Woow cool ..a great innovation, considering the number of police who do not perform their duties properly, hopefully with the presence of these cameras can further improve their performance, because people really need them, hopefully inisiativ like that can be applied in my country .
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Wherever is corruption will be complaining about this kind of stuff. I mean what is wrong about being a cop and record your day with a body camera or a body mic? what you want to hide? I will love this in my country (Venezuela) too many abuses committed by cops/military.
Rats turn on each other when they're placed in overcrowded conditions. I think we've reached that point in our cities. A farm, a private island whatever you can afford..but I digress ;-) Re body cameras, since everyone seems to have been entitled to a smartphone, I'd say do what @adamkokesh did, film the police when necessary. Based on his experience, the problem is not the lack of the camera but the lack of freedom to use it!
Upvoted great work
I think (having seen both Washington and California) that there are very different views of the cops in both places. Is it because the police act differently? I don't know.
In CA a lot of people are more likely to believe that the cops are unjust and "out to get them" whether they are guilty or innocent. I can see how CA would have a lot of complaints simply because whatever the cops do, there are a lot of civilians that will automatically think that the cops are wrong. For this reason the complaints might become fewer when there is video proof. It isn't necessarily because cops are monsters when they aren't monitored.
In WA the civilians are more willing to give both the cops and the civilian the benefit of the doubt rather than assume that either one is automatically wrong, so why complain if there is no video proof unless you have a serious problem with the cop's behavior? There is just as much chance that people will believe the cop is telling the truth as they will believe the person. With this in mind there may be closer to the same number of complaints before the videos as there are with the video.