Police Surveillance. Lights, Camera, Action

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2014 in the subject Law - Miscellaneous, grade: 95, University of Houston, course: Public Policy 3323, language: English, abstract: America was founded on the principles of freedom and liberty. Americans have always stood up to adversity, and have never let those with power abuse it. It is time that the citizens of America hold our police officers accountable for their actions and check their power. In the first ten years of the twenty-first century, the New York Police Department has spent 964 million dollars settling over 30,000 lawsuits. The bulk of these suits could be avoided if police officers were forced to record all interactions and were checked on their authority. For example, in the city of Rialto, California, 250 officers were required to wear cameras on their lapels while performing stops. After just one year, this led to a 60% drop in use of force by police and an 88% drop in complaints against the police department. These numbers alone prove that cameras on police officers is a good idea for both sides. This issue has been discussed for years, but after the events that transpired in Ferguson, Missouri, a fire was lit under the seats of police forces everywhere to take action. The Michael Brown Law, which is named after the slain teen in Ferguson, forces officers to wear cameras while conducting stops. The bill was proposed in August of 2014 and gained nearly 150,000 online supporters in less than thirty days. This massive outpouring of support shows exactly how big of an issue police accountability has become. A 2010 Gallup poll showed that 43% of Americans distrust police and do not believe they hold high ethical or moral standards. It is time that the police forces throughout the country step up and fix these statistics by holding these officers accountable. The lack of cameras on police officers leads to the ability for them to abuse their power and use brutality, racism, sexism, or be negative otherwise.