Body Cameras on Police Officers

With the trial of officer Darren Wilson taking place, tensions remain high in Ferguson, Missouri. Within the recent months, there are those who question what could have resulted if Wilson had a body camera on him at the time of the incident. There has been a police interest in using body camera, before Michael Brown’s death, however the disputes in Ferguson have further accelerated the need for technology usage. Mike White, associate professor at the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University, comments:

 “Within 28 days of Michael Brown’s death, the officers of Ferguson were wearing body cameras. In a relatively short period of time, it will be considered standard practice. It’s not going away. In the next few years you’re going to see the majority of the police departments in the U.S. moving in this direction.”

A police officer wearing a body camera

(This graph is presented by Farrar to show the reduction in incidents and complaints against police officers after they started the 2012-2013 experiment with body cameras. The 30 second buffer is called the  “pre-event video buffer,” which allows the original incident that made the officer turn on the camera be captured too.)

In 2012, Police Chief William A. Farrar of Rialto, California conducted a continuing experiment about the use and effect of body cameras on police offices in his department. He worked alongside Barak Ariel, a visiting colleague at the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge and an assistant professor at Hebrew University. Within the first 12 months, they found that even with only half of the 54 uniformed patrol officers had cameras there was an 88% decline in the complaints filed against officers from 24 to 3 complaints. The police officers also used 60% less force. Interestingly, when force was used it was twice as likely to have been applied by officers not wearing cameras.

Some people have privacy concerns about the secure network videos are uploaded on and when officers are allowed to turn off their cameras. Video footages from dashboard cameras in police cars have been used as entertainment for years. Internet users and even TV networks like TMZ obtain and post videos of the arrests of naked or drunk people, including from time to time athletes and celebrities with legal issues. In sensitive cases such as domestic violence or rape victims, the idea that videos can possibly be accessed online is unnerving to some. Although these concerns are meaningful to further investigate, body cameras can protect both the citizens and police officers. If citizens complain that a police officer was discriminatory or that their arrest was unjust, then they have video evidence to use. Similarly if presented with a complaint from individuals, the officers can pull up their camera and showcase the incident, thereby preventing false accusations.

            With these cameras, there is hope that discriminatory practices and treatment will come to light. Minority communities have long since been aware that they are targeted and treated differently because of how they are perceived by others. Within court cases, when it is a regular joe (minority or not) on trial against the statement of a police officer, juries tend to favor the latter. Seeing the number of complaints filed against officers and use of force incidents decline because of body cameras, it will be interesting to see if the number of arrests and trials of minorities change as video evidence becomes more common. Can officers still pass off reasons for stopping individuals as reasons of suspicion and not because of their race or will body cameras catch the trend that has been going on for years?

References

Kim, Rosa. "Police Use of Body Cameras Raises Hope for Change...and Privacy Fears." RTV6. N.p., 17 Oct. 2014. Web. 18 Oct. 2014. <http://www.theindychannel.com/decodedc/police-use-of-body-cameras-raises-hope-for-changeand-privacy-fears>.

Pearce, Matt. "Growing Use of Police Body Cameras Raises Privacy Concerns." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 27 Sept. 2014. Web. 19 Oct. 2014. <http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-body-cameras-20140927-story.html#page=1>.

Rañoa, Raoul. "The Influence of Body Cameras." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2014. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. <http://www.latimes.com/la-na-g-the-influence-of-body-cameras-20140827-htmlstory.html>.

Stross, Randall. "Wearing a Badge, and a Video Camera." The New York Times. The New York Times, 06 Apr. 2013. Web. 18 Oct. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/business/wearable-video-cameras-for-police-officers.html?_r=2&>.

Unequal Neighborhoods and Schooling

            In an article by the New York Times, it talks about how children would do better in schools if they were placed with middle class peers. However, with Black and Hispanic children, people don’t want to integrate because of their racial and ethnic background. Even though schools are no longer segregated, where children go to school is mostly influenced by where they live. It just so happens that Black and Hispanic children live in poorer neighborhoods because they are discriminated against so they are not able to have equal opportunities. Black and Hispanic children have to go to schools that are not educationally beneficial towards them because they live in poorer parts of the neighborhood. The article mainly talks about trying to have children living in poorer parts of neighborhoods away from schools and into schools that will benefit them.

            People say that they want to help kids in schools who don’t have the same benefits but it’s only confined to their own neighborhoods. It doesn’t help people still living in poverty stricken areas, and it doesn’t even help the children. People don’t want to say it’s because of race, but it still is.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/opinion/22herbert.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3As&_r=0

Texas Gun Show: The Effects of Texan Voter ID Laws

With midterm elections on horizon, many states are finalizing their voter ID laws. The Supreme Court has played a large part in deciding whether or not voter ID laws will be upheld in particular states. Currently, the battleground for voter ID laws is in Texas, which is reported to have the most restrictive laws. This is because they have the smallest amount of acceptable forms of photo IDs and does not make accommodations for the elderly or the poor. Officials say that Texas will only accept Texas drivers license, a military ID, passport, or a Texas gun license in order to allow citizens to vote. In other states such as Wisconsin with voter ID laws, there is a wider range of acceptable forms of ID, such as state school IDs. By only allowing a few forms of ID to vote, Texas is limiting the voices of voters who potentially do not have the resources to obtain an ID.

With these new laws, over a half million registered voters in Texas will not be able to vote.  This means that these people who would normally be heard, would not be eligible strictly because they cannot present a photo ID. What President Obama and many Civil Rights groups note is that many of these registered voters without IDs are minorities, which leads to the question of what is the actual intention behind these laws. The discussions seem far more based around the political agendas of Republicans, as they try to alienate the Democratic vote. Yet, these political lines resemble the struggle between minorities and the dominant group, allowing political parties to support discriminatory policies without them being too obvious.

The Supreme Court ruled this week that Texas would be able to enforce their new laws; stating that it was too close to election season to make any changes. However, many critics argue that while it would be difficult to retrain government officials involved in distributing ballots, it could also be detrimental to outcast a half million people from voting with such short notice. The effects of limiting the number of voters so shortly could largely benefit the Republican party because it will stop minorities who would often vote Democrat, from voting in general.

The trouble with laws such as these, is that many claim that they are not racist simply because the civil rights movement has ended. However, as Justice Ginsburg stated “racial discrimination in elections in Texas in no mere historical artifact.” Discriminatory policies are still being formed and upheld in the US, which reveals that there is still a long way Americans have to go before they can eventually establish equality. In order to promote equality in US society, there needs to be more discussion about the statistical data behind race and how it affects modern politics.

I have abided by the Wheaton Honor Code.

Work Cited

Howell, Kellan. "Supreme Court Clears the Way for Texas Voter ID Law." Washington Times. The Washington Times, n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.