Camera's on Cops

Camera's on Cops

In light of all of the police violence in the news the idea of putting cameras on all police officers to make sure we know exactly what happens when there is an exchange between a civilian  and a police officer. There is a little bit of debate as to whether this will actually do anything or simply be a waste of money. I believe that the use of cameras on police officers will help sort out police culpability and responsibility. I think that there is a distinct possibility that this could be a productive course of action. About a year ago a California tried putting cameras on their police officers and it drastically cut down on violence and complaints. There are a few examples of this that I think show that there is positive gain here for society. I think that people forget that dashboard cameras have been a thing for a while now, and I think while there impact is felt, it will not simply fix police brutality or racism in the United States legal system. Then again, like brought up in class today, we have seen that people will eventually get used to cameras and from there maybe the potential gains are lost. Jon Stewart recently talked about the Long Island  case where a man died while being arrested by the police, the entire thing filmed, and  Jon was upset that there was no case even though the entire thing was filmed. I know that there is a certain fear of job security because people can be unjustly charged  It is possible that these cameras do not help at all, but I think that there is potential here for something constructive given how California reacted to the cameras.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/04/california-police-body-cameras-cuts-violence-complaints-rialto

http://www.eonline.com/news/603406/angry-jon-stewart-talks-utterly-depressing-eric-garner-case-we-re-not-living-in-a-post-racial-society