Kathleen Rice

Professor Butler

CJ 1010

03 May 2020

Are Police Body Cameras Worth the Money?

In 2015, nearly 95% of all larger police departments used some sort of body camera. To

some, body cameras can be important especially dealing with safety. The cameras are used for

accurate documentation of any contact the officer has with anyone. This can be especially

important in identifying the suspect or to just document in general. Body cameras can be

considerably pricey when put in place and given to every major police department in the United

States. Body-worn cameras are used to record the encounter that happens between a police

officer and a suspect. Although body cameras are fairly new, the cameras are also expensive.

Body cameras were more strictly enforced in late 2015 because of a case that involved a shooting

of an unarmed suspect. There are many cases where citizens choose to take the officer to court

because of a misuse of force, or citizens reporting misconduct on an officer. A lot of the

evidence comes from the body camera footage, or the microphones that are built into the

cameras. Nowadays, police body cameras are required to be turned on at every traffic stop or

encounter a police officer has. Now that the body cameras are much more upgraded than before,

they work a lot better, but they are also more pricey.

Body cameras are now widely used in almost every police department and every police

officer. In some cases, being recorded causes normal traffic stops or encounters to be taken care

of more civilized and quickly. Citizens being recorded is a controversial topic especially on the

privacy aspect, but police departments advocate to use them whenever an encounter happens
because of the advancement of technology and the money spent on them. Although many

citizens claim that police body cameras are not worth the money because of how much is

spent on each one, body cameras can be worth the money because it prevents misconduct,

and helps identify the subject and use the footage as evidence in court.

In spite of the fact that police body-worn cameras are useful, the cameras have a costly

price tag for the government. The cameras are fairly new, but the amount of money put into the

cameras makes citizens think that the government is sure of this choice. In an article by the

Harvard Law Review, it states that “The White House estimated that aspect of the program,

which would cost $75 million, would help fund the purchase of 50,000 body-worn cameras”

(1796). $75 million dollars spent on only 50,000 body cameras is absurd. Police officers are in

greatly more numbers than 50,000, which raises the cost even more. Cost is a big issue when it

comes to police body cameras. Individuals claim that the government has spent way too much

money and tax dollars toward these cameras. The cost is not including the funds to manage the

data, and storing the data. There are also plenty of other fees and mechanical issues that can

happen that need to be fixed as well. Though the government seems to have infinite amounts of

money to be spending on these types of things, individuals mention that the money should’ve

been funded towards different things. So are they really worth the money?

Citizens may ask, what are the benefits of body cameras at this cost? Police body cameras

actually have benefits to both police officers and citizens or suspects. Not too long ago there

were incidents of police misconduct, and citizens were outraged at police departments. In an

article by Gary Lippman, a former general counsel for the Palm Beach Police Benevolent

Association, Lippman says that “...the conflicting interests of officers and their agencies, both are

often linked in collective liability for the consequences of individual officers’ actions; and
policy-level defendants are named more frequently now in the captions of federal civil rights

actions premised upon policing policies alleged to encourage officers’ unconstitutional uses of

force” (59). Lippman is essentially saying that each individual officer is liable to anything acted

upon the suspect. Nowadays citizens frequently call out or blame specific officers for

misconduct, the most common misconduct is a use of force, or overly use of force. The benefit

from this is that police officers are now more cautious when it comes to using force or any type

of misconduct. There are benefits for both sides, as police officers are more careful and citizens

are treated more fairly. There are big controversies nowadays as if people are treated fairly by

police officers, which is why the body cameras come into play for that exact reason.

Police body cameras can sometimes be a big evidence factor as well. The jury or court

can use body camera footage to prove that a suspect has done something wrong, or what the

officer did was justified. Many cases are taken to court and are shut down because the body

camera footage shows the events happened correctly, and no misconduct was present. In an

article by Stacy E. Wood, a doctoral candidate in Information Studies, she says that “The history

of audio-visual evidence in the courtroom provides precedent for this dilemma, as the

introduction of new forms of evidence has shown” (44). The quote essentially says that body

camera footage can be used in a court or jury, to show previous events that had occurred. This is

important in showing correct information in a jury. Without the footage, no evidence can be

made for the case. Evidently, body camera footage can be used against an officer or suspect.

Meaning that body camera footage can make or break a case in court. Evidence can be made on

both sides of the case, whether it be against the officer or against the suspect. That is why body

cameras are powerful in court cases, it can prove what really happened which is essential to

some.
 To conclude, police body cameras are very pricey and some individuals think they are

worth the money because being recorded prevents misconduct on the officer side. Being

recorded makes the officer treat citizens better and can sometimes make frequent traffic stops

finish faster as well. Although, some may also add that the government has spent too much on

funding body cameras, or could have found a cheaper alternative. Body cameras are also a key

part for using evidence in court. Footage and audio shows what really happened and who was at

fault if chosen to go to court on the case. Moving into the future, body cameras are legally

supposed to be turned on and recording when anything happens. Every single one of the footages

recorded on the body cameras are supposed to be looked over and reviewed, so as long as it is

turned on there will be evidence. There may not be much room to change from the past, but

hopefully the body cameras are in turn worth it and make the world a safer place, but not every

police officer is known for misconduct, mainly all of them know the rules and treat people with

respect.

WORKS CITED:

Ariel, Barak, et al. "“Contagious accountability” a global multisite randomized controlled trial on

the effect of police body-worn cameras on citizens’ complaints against the police."

Criminal justice and behavior 44.2 (2017): 293-316.

Ariel, Barak. "Police body cameras in large police departments." The Journal of Criminal Law

and Criminology (1973-) (2016): 729-768.

Evans, Danielle. "Police Body Cameras: Mending Fences and How Pittsburgh is a Leading

Example." Pitt. J. Tech. L. & Pol'y 16 (2015): 76.

Harvard Law Review, “Considering Police Body Cameras.” vol. 128, no. 6, Apr. 2015,

pp. 1794–1817. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=102118314&site=eds-live.

Lippman, Gary E. “Police Body Cameras Part II: Will Body Cameras Improve Policing

in Florida?” Florida Bar Journal, vol. 91, no. 7, July 2017, pp. 59–64. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lgh&AN=123807772&site=eds-live.

Pelfrey Jr, William V., and Steven Keener. "Police body worn cameras: A mixed method

approach assessing perceptions of efficacy." Policing: An International Journal of Police

Strategies & Management (2016).

Smith, George Davey, and Matthias Egger. "Meta-analysis: unresolved issues and future

developments." BMJ 316.7126 (1998): 221-225.

Wood, Stacy E. “Police Body Cameras and Professional Responsibility: Public Records

and Private Evidence.” Preservation, Digital Technology & Culture, vol. 46, no. 1, Apr.

2017, pp. 41–51. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1515/pdtc-2016-0030.