What’s Police Body Worn Camera and Why Need It?
What’s Police Body Worn Camera?
It is a Multi-Purpose, Multi-Functional, Indispensable Law Enforcement tool ,often worn on an officer’s chest , it provide officers with a reliable and compact tool to systematically and automatically record their field observations and encounters. They can be used for documentation purposes, to include interactions with victims, witnesses, and others during police-public encounters; arrests; and critical incidents. These documents provide items for agencies to consider when developing their own body-worn cameras programs.
By the way,it not only used for Police but also security guy etc
Why need Police Body Worn Camera?
Proponents of body-worn cameras point to several potential benefits:
Reduce violent crime!
Record abusive behaviour!
Reduce number of complaints!
Capture evidence on the go!
Take still pictures on the spot of trouble makers!
Evidence recording with a push of a button!
Save time in dealing with Door staff and Police!
Better Transparency. First, body-worn cameras may result in better transparency and accountability and thus may improve law enforcement legitimacy. In many communities, there is a lack of trust and confidence in law enforcement. This lack of confidence is exacerbated by questions about encounters between officers and community members that often involve the use of deadly or less-lethal force. Video footage captured during these officer-community interactions might provide better documentation to help confirm the nature of events and support accounts articulated by officers and community residents.
Increased Civility. Body-worn cameras may also result in higher rates of citizen compliance to officer commands during encounters and fewer complaints lodged against law enforcement. Citizens often change their behavior toward officers when they are informed that the encounter is being recorded. This “civilizing effect” may prevent certain situations from escalating to levels requiring the use of force and also improve interactions between officers and citizens.
Quicker Resolution. Body-worn cameras may lead to a faster resolution of citizen complaints and lawsuits that allege excessive use of force and other forms of officer misconduct. Investigations of cases that involve inconsistent accounts of the encounter from officers and citizens are often found to be “not sustained” and are subsequently closed when there is no video footage nor independent or corroborating witnesses. This, in turn, can decrease the public’s trust and confidence in law enforcement and increase perceptions that claims of abuse brought against officers will not be properly addressed. Video captured by body-worn cameras may help corroborate the facts of the encounter and result in a quicker resolution.
Corroborating Evidence. Footage captured may also be used as evidence in arrests or prosecutions. Proponents have suggested that video captured by body-worn cameras may help document the occurrence and nature of various types of crime, reduce the overall amount of time required for officers to complete paperwork for case files, corroborate evidence presented by prosecutors, and lead to higher numbers of guilty pleas in court proceedings.
Training Opportunities. The use of body-worn cameras also offers potential opportunities to advance policing through training. Law enforcement trainers and executives can assess officer activities and behavior captured by body-worn cameras — either through self-initiated investigations or those that result from calls for service — to advance professionalism among officers and new recruits. Finally, video footage can provide law enforcement executives with opportunities to implement new strategies and assess the extent to which officers carry out their duties in a manner that is consistent with the assigned initiatives.
