Body cameras are small devices worn by patrol officers to provide audio and video recordings of their public encounters. The recordings are viewed to judge the appropriateness of their behavior, especially in questionable scenarios. Police-community relationship has continued to decline due to the increased cases high-profile incidents of using deadly force. The use of body-worn cameras seeks to enhance police transparency and accountability while preventing undesirable conduct. However, the rapid adoption of these surveillance gadgets without empirical evidence may result in unintended and unanticipated consequences harmful to the public and police interests. Body cameras for law enforcement officers should be standard issue to all officers, and this would provide the most accurate and non-biased evidence of all encounters with the public and hold all parties accountable for their actions.
High profile incidences of the police using deadly force on innocent civilians have demanded scrutiny of police actions and behavior. Conflicting and controversial accounts surrounding the police shooting unarmed citizens have called for increased accountability and transparency. The use of body-worn cameras among law enforcement agencies is likely to increase citizens' and officers' safety, aid in police prosecution, reduce occasions of police using unnecessary force, and build trust between communities and the police (Smykla et al., 2016). Camera footage helps the police capture crucial contextual information about suspects and incidences, especially in cases where there is a need to justify officers' behavior. Body-worn cameras help enhance the police's activities and their ability to provide accurate and detailed reports. On the contrary, studies reveal that the adoption of cameras without empirical evidence is likely to harm the interests of the police and the public (Braga et al., 2018). Law enforcement officers make more arrests, unlike those without cameras, hence undermining the citizen-police encounters' improvement. Body-worn cameras enhance transparency and accountability in policing and increased enforcement abilities.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Pathos shapes the argument by asserting that body cameras worn by law enforcement officers are likely to provide definitive evidence hence increasing accountability and transparency among the police. This appeals to citizens' emotions calls for responsibility among the police due to increasing incidences of brutality and killing of innocent people. In this case, the police will behave responsibly and focus on arresting criminals based on evidence. The argument appeals to ethos as the footage collected is compelling evidence against brutality and will shape the police's conduct. Moreover, the evidence is crucial in convicting criminals hence reducing the crime rate in society. Cameras will enable the police to collect evidence crucial in convicting criminals in court. The logic in the argument is that proactive policing will compel the police to go for criminal and illegal cases. This will reduce cases of unwarranted arrests and killing of innocent civilians. The presence of cameras collecting information will enhance accountability among the police while presenting crucial evidence in court, reducing the crime rate, and unwarranted police activities. However, not all footage collected will be an accurate representation of the crime as some evidence is circumstantial, hence the need for further probe into the crime allegations and police activities.
References
Braga, A.A., Sousa, .H., Coldren, R.C., & Rodriguez, D. (2018).The Effects of body-worn cameras on police activity and police-citizen encounters: A randomized controlled trial, 108. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology , 511.
Smykla, J.O., Crow, M.S., Crichlow, & Snyder, J.A. (2016). Police body-worn cameras: Perceptions of law enforcement leadership. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 41 , 424–443
