In light of recent events, police departments across the country are looking for new ways to improve tactics as well as mend relations between the police and the public. Police officers perform a necessary, dangerous, and excruciating job. The overwhelming majority of police officers perform their duties superbly and without complaint. Still, many in the American public have become weary of police officers due to highly-publicized national cases that cast a poor light on police officers. As a result, police departments are actively seeking ways to improve their policies and to extend an olive branch to the public they serve so thanklessly.
One way police departments have tried to improve relations is by acquiring more dash cameras and body cameras for their officers. Why are they so important? Here are three reasons why dash and body cameras for police have been so instrumental in law enforcement (and, indirectly, public relations):
- First and foremost, body and police car cameras provide invaluable procedural training material for police departments. Police departments typically use footage from these cameras to train their officers. The videos show what to do in certain situations as well as (arguably more important) show what not to do. These videos provide officers, training and current, an invaluable resource for reviewing police tactics.
- Dash and body cameras also provide police officers direct evidence for potential crimes. Instead of relying solely on police testimony, juries can see actual footage of an event (assuming a crime occurred right in front of an officer). These cameras provide indisputable proof of a crime in certain situations.
- Cameras also serve as a gesture-of-sorts to the general public. Police departments have the right to release footage of events to the public. In doing so, departments can restore some of the trust lost during recent events in the news.
For more information about car and body cameras for police, feel free to leave a comment or question at the bottom.