As a human being , I found the Trayvon Martin and Mike Brown stories disturbing and sad. After reviewing the facts of both cases it always seems to be an issue of who is really telling the truth: the cop , the neighborhood watch , the victim (who was dead), and witnesses. While some may view these cases subjective and unfair we must also think about the hundreds of others who have been put at a disadvantage by cops who abuse their power. In the end ,I think it is safe to say that it may be beneficial to put cameras on police officers so we can get the full story of every situation. The real question I pose to the people reading this blog is , is it ethical or not? Is it unconstitutional? Is it invasion of privacy? All these questions are brought up.
In class Andrew always brings up whether or not doing certain experiments are ethical or not. According to president Obama, this is ethical and going off a speech he made Monday he is requesting nearly $263 million to fund this new project. In his plan he wants funding to buy 50,00 cameras. Sadly, if Obama doesn’t get the funding for this his whole idea will fall victim to the File Drawer Problem. Now,while some may think this may solve nothing , a pilot experimental of implementing this system proved other wise.
In an experimental trial using these cameras on police officers in Rialto, California , the results were breath taking. From 2012-2013 , in the first year implementing these cameras “the number of complaints filed against officers fell by 88 percent and use of force by officers fell by almost 60 percent.”
While the plan may see far fetched to those ignorant of the police cameras; some major cities (Chicago, New York, Washington D.C, and many more) are already using them in their police department or plan using them.
To me this will enhance the performance of the police others off of the psychology that people will perform/behave better when they know others are watching. This is known as social facilitation . After all, if you’re doing what you’re supposed to do why would it be an issue if other people are looking on at you.
While I’m a strong believer in the idea of having these cameras I must step back and really think hard about the cons of this system and address the counter arguments. President Obama must first give more details on these cameras. Will they be on the police officers whole shift? In some cases they officers may feel as though thier privacy is being invaded when they are not confronting someone and doing their job. Also who gets to see these tapes ? Nobody wants an invasion of privacy in a sense that they do not always want to be watched.Americans also might question if this funding could go else where.
Looking at the situation through a scientific microscope we have to think about the actual problem at hand and solve it using the skills Andrew taught us. First when it comes to the validity of a story is the correlation really strong between the what the officer is saying and false information being presented. We must also think are there other factors/variables being included when stories dont add up (confused witnesses, lying victims, etc) All of this must be accounted for before coming to a conclusion that these cameras will be an over all solution to our problem.
I am a bit curious what you guys have to say about this proposed idea , feel free to let your voice be heard; I would love to hear different opinions.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/01/obama-police-body-cameras_n_6250146.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_facilitation
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2014/12/obama-requests-75m-police-body-cameras-201412118927522491.html
http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20141013/ARTICLES/141019898
Here’s the link for the article – http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-police-stealth-cars-20140826-story.html#page=1
Your post really caught my attention because just recently, the cops in my phone town started to wear cameras on their hats. Bringing up social facilitation was a great point because I think having pedestrians know they are being watched will help them in not doing something they aren’t supposed to be but I also think it will help out the cops as well. Usually, it is quite difficult for cops to get in trouble and we even sometimes here of cops taking advantage of situations they are in, but know with cameras on their head, everything they do and say gets record and that could in turn make the cops be better cops. Another thing the cops in my town started doing last year was blacking out their cop cars. It is impossible to tell whether it is just a regular black car or an actual cop until you are beside it. When you get beside it you can barely see the word police. I get how when in one of the blacked out cars it is easier to catch speeders and such but I still don’t fully agree with them. Half because I like to go a little faster than more and because believe that since you cannot spot the cop car until you are right next to it, could cause people to panic and quickly slam on their breaks and cause accidents. Mostly though, because seeing cops around makes you behave better. In an article on Mcall.com says that, “other departments don’t want stealth vehicles, arguing a well-marked police car cruising the roads is a better way to get motorists to slow down and deter other crime,” and I totally agree with that. I think cops should be focused on preventing crime, not ticketing everyone they can.