Puentes 1

Bellanira Puentes
Professor Michael Mahoney
Writing 39C
11 November 2014
Composition II Draft
Digital surveillance have been around ever since the time of World War II. Over the
course of the years it has been used for different reasons other than surveillance. Today there are
surveillance cameras all over the streets, usually in convenient stores. They are mainly used in
convenient stores to watch out for any crimes and if there is any crimes then they are there to
catch the criminal. Police officers sometimes use this footage to gather evidence needed. Another
reason why these cameras are useful is because they serve as a public reassurance device. The
public feels safer with this. The government also knows that it can also prevent some crimes.
Having cameras on police officers all the time would also bring a dramatic change to the way
crimes are handled. Of course getting something like this to pass would require a lot of work.
What needs to be done to persuade the people of the United States that this would reduce crime
rates? There will need to be compromises to keep some people satisfied.
To pass this would be in the form of a law. The solution would just be regulate because it
mainly involves certain departments. State courts could also be responsible for passing an overall
law but the departments would be responsible for the main policies. An individual department
knows what is best and more convenient for its own team.

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Closed circuit television (CCTV) is used to maintain public order and to provide public
reassurance. One way that this happens is because of the theory of Foucault and the model of the
Panopticon. The Panopticon is a form of surveillance requiring less high officials to survey
prisoners. A police officer may be in the middle surrounding the prisoners without being noticed.
The prisoners cannot know whether or not a guard may be watching so they are cautious at all
times. This would work the same way if police officers wore camera badges at all times and the
public knew about it. Once someone knows they are being recorded, they tend to act a different
way most if not all the time (depending on the person). The only times that crimes arent
prevented are when they arent planned out. If something is planned out then they will take into
consideration that they will be recorded and this usually stops the scheme. Now and again things
are not planned out and people act on the moment. When this happens of course cameras cannot
prevent everything but it can help determine how the situation was.
An example where this could have helped was in the situation of Michael Brown who
was shot dead by Officer Darren Wilson. What is known is that Michael Brown was unarmed
when he was shot multiple times and killed. Nothing is certain of what provoked the officer to do
what he did. There were many stories that were told and there was no way of knowing which
story was true. If Officer Wilson was wearing a badge camera then the issue would have been
solve before but it has been months and trails are still being held for Brown. Judge Scheindlin
says it's well documented that cameras change people's behavior. She says police officers and the
citizens they protect will be less likely to be aggressive when they know they are being watched
(Meminger). Judge Scheindlin said that the Michael Brown incident could have been prevented
through the use of body cameras. The judge also says that this could have prevented another
police case involving the chokehold of Eric Garner. Garner died while being arrested by police

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officers for selling untaxed cigarettes. Body cameras should be worn for the protection of the
people. This is just initiating the process that would need to get done in order to pass this as a
law for all police departments.
Some police departments have already started using miniature video cameras and voice
recordings on duty. These videos are uploaded to a central server and they are saved for a few
weeks unless they are needed for trial. After a certain number of days the footage gets deleted.
That is one thing that has to be assured for the public. For the officers it is not easy to start
recording without warning. Many officers were opposed to this when it was first brought up in
some departments, questioning why their boss should see everything they do. This department in
Rialto California has slowly tried to enforce it on officers but it has been seen that some officers
do not record all of their encounters (Randall Stross). They believe that the citizens have their
own right to record on their cellphones if it is needed.
William A. Farrar, the police chief of the department in Rialto, has been conducting
experiments using the new camera ideas he is enforcing. There has been changes in the past year
since when he started his experiment. In the past year he has seen striking results. There was a
decline of 88% in the number of complaints filed against officers. Police officers also used force
nearly 60% less often. To start this some departments have used a few officers to test out the
cameras and with those is how they got these numbers. They have evidence now that body
cameras make a huge effect. The cameras are noticeable to the civilians and it makes them
behave. This also causes distress among citizens because they worry about a recording of
themselves being leaked on CNN. It would have to be secured with the public that the videos are
safe. Departments in other states, including Colorado, California, Texas, and Virginia, have all
bought cameras to try out ever since occurring incidents like Michael Brown have been an issue.

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Getting the public to pass a law like this would be very difficult. One issue is the idea of
being recorded does not sound good to citizens. A Sherriff from Georgia has proposed to evenly
spread out where the expenses get spent, leaving a certain amount left over for body cameras.
Every department gets a fund from the government to buy weapons and trucks. There would be
no reason to add more money to tax payers therefore this should not be a problem for the public
(Jorge Lopez). If people are still opposed to this solution then there can be different forms of
passing this law.
Another option to paying for these cameras are if the police officers themselves would
buy their own or pay for their own body camera. An officer in Maine has reported that he has
bought his own video recorder when he first started working and that it has been a good use to
him. He said he bought his for fifty dollars. Every officer should be able to take a portion of his
or her paycheck as a requirement to buy the tools needed.
There have been recordings of police officers using force and amateur recordings on
smart phones. These recordings lack the beginning footage of what happened to provoke the
officers to use force. Paul Gaspar, executive director of the Maine Association of Police said
if officers wear cameras, they can show the circumstances that escalated into the encounter,
instead of just a clip of police using force. (Police officers in Maine wear cameras like badge).
In the end, the ideal solution to solve any further investigations would be for officers to
be provided with a body camera to use at all times when encountering with a civilian. Most
police cars have videos attached to the hood of a car but when they are outside away from the car
the whole scene may not be captured. It may require compromises with the state and departments
but it is worth it in the end. Cases like the one of Michael Brown could have been prevented as

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said by Judge Scheindlin. It is not hard for the department to pass this but what makes it difficult
is to get the public to agree that this is for the greater good of the society.

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Works Cited (still working on it)

http://www.ny1.com/content/215891/ny1-exclusive--stop-and-frisk-judge-says-body-camerascould-have-prevented-garner--brown-deaths/
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/business/wearable-video-cameras-for-policeofficers.html?pagewanted=all
http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/how-cctv-is-used-in-the-community
http://www.wrdw.com/home/headlines/Sheriff-says-new-guns-and-body-cams-can-be-paidwithout-tax-dollars--282206551.html
http://www.pressherald.com/2013/08/18/police-officers-in-maine-wear-cameras-likebadge_2013-08-18/
Foucaults The Panoticon