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Hannah Benton
Mrs. DeBock
English 4
17 April 2015
Real World Experience Narrative Writing
When I first started English four with Mrs. DeBock back in January, I was extremely
eager to start my Senior Exploration. Meanwhile, I had no idea what I wanted to do my research
on. After figuring out that I was more than interested in the new body cameras policemen are
now wearing, I began to do my project on the body cams. I had one of, if not, the worst time
trying to find someone to mentor or help me with my service hours. However, an amazing guy,
Jeff Benton was there to help me throughout it all. Jeff sent me to Myrtle Beach Police
Department (MBPD) to see if they would allow me to do my hours with them. Even though they
have body cameras, they would not help me because I am 17. Once I finally got through to
Surfside Beach Police Department (SBPD) they agreed to help me and set up a little scene for
me. Time went by as I called and called and called them for about a month straight, asking for
Lieutenant Hoffman, I finally got tired of waiting and asked to speak with Captain Miller.
Throughout Horry County I had policemen help me with my Senior Exploration.
As I began this project I was not only getting in contact to see S.B.P.D. I was also
speaking to other officers from around the Horry County area. Retired officer with North Myrtle
Beach Police Department, Joe Turner, helped me understand how he wished he was able to have
the chance with a body camera. However, Joe believes that officers wearing the camera, they

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may be hesitant to react to a situation. My research helped me come up with the questions I
wanted to ask the officers and I could understand their answers too. Right when I got done with
Joe Turner he told me to contact his son Chris Turner with the city of Myrtle Beach because he
already has a body camera. So my interview with Chris was via text message and he was all
excited about me wanting to quote him in my paper. While texting Chris one of his responses
caught my attention. I asked him about police brutality and if the body cameras would be able to
stop the topic of it. Turner responded with I do not really think that police brutality is a
problem. As Jeff Benton was helping me get in contact with S.B.P.D. my father was helping me
get in contact with some of his old friends that have become police officers, and that is how I got
in contact with Craig Hutchinson. Officer Hutchinson works with the Horry County Police
Department. Speaking with Craig, I learned that he did not have a body camera yet; however the
department is in the process of getting them. Along with the other officers, Hutchinson believes
that the camera will protect the officers and even the citizens because the video does not lie.
Just like every school, we at St. James have a resource officer. The resource officer at St. James
helped me finally be able to get into S.B.P.D. and then he decided that he would even answer a
few questions for me. Officer Marcus, Horry County Police Department, when asked if the
cameras could violate the fourth amendment said, as long as one person knows it is being
recorded, it is only a violation if no one knows it is being recorded. The next day I started my
hours with Surfside Beach Police.
On the second day of my Senior Exploration service hours, I joined the officers at the
Surfside Beach Police Department. Once I arrived, after avoiding the closed intersection of
HWY 17 and Holmestown road, officer Ridgeway was there to guide me around the police
department back to where they keep their cameras. Ridgeway, a great guy and officer, answered

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my questions and then even set up a fake traffic stop and we compared the videos from the car
cam and the body camera. While answering my questionnaire, Ridgeway came across one of my
questions with a spelling error. Ridgeway answered the questions I needed in a serious and a
funny way. One questions answer from him stood out about how an officer can only change the
limit of time that the video stays in the system but the only ones that are not able to be removed
are the use of force videos. After he did the traffic stop with me, he showed me how he was able
to change the time limit on the video. While officer Ridgeway was downloading his car cam
video, which took forever, officer Knight answered my survey. Knight believes one down side to
the body cameras is that may cause people to turn the other way and not want to talk to the
police because they do not want to be recorded. About three fourths of the way through my day
night shift comes in around about 5:45pm. Officer Ridgeway told me to talk to officers Carcich
and Martin. Officer Carcich agrees that he does feel safer with a body camera because they
protect us officers against allegations. Officer Martin, a recently hired officer, said that the
only down side to the body cams are the size and appearance. My first day at S.B.P.D. was a
great time and I wish I could go back and do it again.
Spending yet another day with Surfside Beach Police, I was thinking it would be like the
day before. However, it was truly different. That day I only had to talk to Captain Miller, and he
was in a meeting, so I had to sit out front and could not go back with the officers. Once I got to
talk with the Captain, he burned the videos from the cameras for me to use for this project and
answered my questions. Captain Miller answered my questions and we came across a question
about the pros of the cameras and he said that the cameras are a good use of evidence and they
protect the officer. We continued our conversation and the topic of having to give out video
records if asked to by a civilian, was necessary. However, with the body cameras being attached

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to an officer, the cameras are able to go inside a persons house, and because of this he said that
they have a stricter record request system for body cameras. Despite our conversation going
off topic, I had a great time with Captain Miller and he was nice enough to give me a copy of
their policy.
Finally, after talking with all of the policemen, I realized that the life of an officer is not
hard but can be difficult to deal with because of the complaints by civilians. I also learned that
there are not any bad cops out there it is just the way that civilians see cops and make them out to
be. I have now definitely leaned more toward the forensic side of the science field. The service of
the Senior Project had to be the most fun and valuable part of this project. Surfside Beach Police
Department and even the officers I talked to on the phone helped me understand the valuable
concepts of why officers have gotten body cameras.