Michael Brown. Sandra Bland. Eric Garner. All victims of police brutality in America. Police brutality is best defined as the use of excessive and unnecessary force by officers towards citizens—whom are generally unarmed. An example of police brutality includes the shooting and death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. This is one of the many reason body cameras need to be necessary for police to wear. Police should wear body cameras because they would help to decrease violence and unnecessary deaths, and will also help to build a new, stronger trust between the community and the police force.
On-officer body cameras—commonly referred to as body cams—will help decrease unnecessary violence towards citizens. Body cameras are small cameras that can clip onto a police officer's uniform to give an unbiased, first-person view of what an officer sees and how they interact in a public setting. Cameras would also help to hold everybody accountable for their actions. This would make it harder for one or both parties to make up…show more content… In one survey conducted by vidcie.com, 74% of citizens surveyed stated they believed that police should be required to wear body cameras, and 77% said they would feel much safer if a police approached them equipped with a body camera. In 2014, in wake of the death of Michael Brown—which helped to bring more light onto the issue—President Barack Obama stated that the use of body cameras would help to “bridge a deep mistrust between the police force and citizens.” Another study, this one based in Orlando, Florida and conducted by Tony Farrar, showed that complaints against officers decreased 65% when almost all of the police force he was in charge of was equipped with a body camera. Tony Farrar is the chief of the Rialto police department, and won the 2013 Award for Excellence in Evidence-Based Policing for his