Why Police Body Cameras Should Be Used

Throughout 2014 to 2015, America has greatly experienced a very racism-based violent exhibition between the police and the public. As shown by the incidents in Ferguson with Michael Brown and Staten Island with Eric Garner, police violence has become a big issue within certain communities. To prevent any more of these law enforcement issues with police brutality and to protect our people, we should allow police body cameras. With these police body cameras, the public will know for sure that the government and the police departments aren’t keeping any valuable information away from the public eye. The cameras can record the audio and videos of the encounters that would usually go unnoticed. As a person who believes that every person deserves their lawful rights, I believe that these cameras will help enforce the law so that every human can justly have those given rights.

Fortunately, with the cellphone videos, the world is able to see secondhand what is occurring in the violence-struck communities. If it weren’t for these videos, the deaths of Brown and Garner would’ve been insignificant and unnoticed. However, these videos were shot by bystanders. Therefore, if police body cameras are not enforced, then African-Americans may continue to be attacked by the white police officers because a bystander might not be there every time. If the men were white, then the police officers wouldn’t have gone to the extent to shoot them or put them into a chokehold. Due to the racism that is still visibly present in our generation, we should enforce the cameras to make sure that this does not happen again. With the help of police body cameras, we will be able to see exactly what is happening in the encounters between the police and the public, especially with those who are African-Americans.

In a viral video that originated from Facebook, an African-American female teenager in a bikini is seen being assaulted by a white police officer in McKinney, Texas. As the pool party becomes chaotic, the video focuses on the violent interaction between the teenage girl and the police officer. The video shows the cop twisting and yanking the girl’s arm even though she is just sitting down on the grass with her mother. The cop abused his power as he went to the extent to pull out his gun and aim it at the teenagers to prevent them from trying to help the girl. As the pool party was later revealed to be a celebration for graduation, the party was ruined as the police officers barged into the party and chased after all of the teenagers.

As a student, I am confused as to why the police officers attacked the students during their pool party without interrogating them first. The students were simply having a good time celebrating their graduation, but the officers ruined the party. Personally, I would have felt extremely insulted. As a female, I am offended that the officers attacked a girl in a bikini who was simply sitting down on the grass and talking to her mother. Once again, the victim who was attacked was an African-American, and this video was filmed by a bystander on a cellphone. Thankfully, the bystanders were able to get this incident on film. However, they were just lucky to be in a public area. The police body cameras will make sure that even in places without many people, the rights of the people won’t be violated. The criminals will be justly taken into custody without any violent tactics.

#bodycams #policeviolence