

Police brutality can be defined in the encyclopedia as “the use of any force exceeding that reasonably necessary to accomplish a lawful police purpose,” (Encycopedia). This definition is very vague, just as the issue itself is. Perspectives vary depending on location, race, gender, etc., but many people in today’s society at least see some type of issue going on. Police brutality against African Americans has been on the rise in the United States and police officers must be held accountable for all of the actions they commit. 

Excessive force by police officers is not a new issue to arise in the recent past. It is an issue that has been occurring for centuries. Not too long ago in our countries history, racism was a legal act that could be performed by the citizens of this country, including those whose purpose is to protect and serve. While people were fighting for their rights as citizens during the civil rights movement, many police officers stood against their movement and intervened. Pictures were seen around the world of cops having police dogs attack protestors, while other officers would be spraying protests with water so hard they would be knocked over. The act of racism is deep in this country’s history, and even after being outlawed by many acts including the Civil Rights Act of 1966, still runs in some people’s minds. 

After these outlaws occurred and racism was on the decline, it was still seen to be a though process of some in the police force. A very famous case of this brutality was the Rodney King beating which occurred in 1991. Rodney King was a taxi driver who was being chased down in a high speed police chase. Once the police had gotten to him, they brutally and beat him, which was unnecessary since he was unarmed. Rodney thankfully lived after this endeavor, and became a symbol for a cause. His beating was caught on camera and seen around the country, starting many Los Angeles riots against police which subsequently caused many other deaths as well. The tension between the police officers and the African-American community had been longstanding, but this video made it clear to the rest of America that there was a problem. Even with this knowledge, little to nothing was done to change the relations held between the groups. Monitoring was put into place, but this was a small solution for a large and important problem. 

Today, we still see cases uncannily similar to the case that occurred nearly thirty years ago. Many of these cases we are very familiar with, since they have left a large impact on the history of our time. Whether it be Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, and the many others not mentioned, all of these people lost their lives at the hands of police. Most of the officers at fault for these deaths have gotten little to no repercussions. After the death of Michael Brown, it started a “nationwide protests against what civil rights advocates say is law enforcement's tendency to be overly aggressive when dealing with black men,” (Funke). Even as decades have passed, many are still unable to learn from others mistakes and let history repeat itself. 

The statistics for the current police brutality rate against African Americans are shocking in today’s times. In the guardian, it was stated that, “Young black men were nine times more likely than other Americans to be killed by police officers in 2015… Despite making up only 2% of the total US population, African American males between the ages of 15 and 34 comprised more than 15% of all deaths logged this year,” (Swaine).  Almost all of the police killings were caused by gunshot. The true fact is that we have had so much time to try to solve these issues since it was brought to world attention. Instead of anything truly changing in our society, it is simply waited out till the protests die down and the officers can continue with their jobs. 

Many of the police officers responsible for killing these African-American lives will serve zero time in jail.  Cops are indicted in less than t one percent of all killings they cause. Some even continue their jobs as police officers, with entire communities scared that they could be this person’s next victim. Juries and police departments say these officers cannot be proven to have been using excessive force, but I believe the fact that many of these people are no longer with us is the proof enough. An example of this can be seen in the Eric Garner murder, which occurred in 2014. Two officers were punished in their jobs, but, “Neither has been charged with a crime, and police say Garner’s poor health and his refusal to cooperate with officers contributed to his death,” (Funke). Many of these cases that occur get covered up by excuses the certain police departments create. These issues are ones of too much importance to not be looked at. Police officers have been using lethal force too quickly when doing their jobs. Even if some of these victims were participating in illegal activities, the first action should not be to kill because they committed these acts. There are many other ways to stop these human beings without stopping their lives. 

One very easy method that could be used by officers would be Taser guns.  This can stop the perpetrator from committing and crimes or causing harm to the officers while still allowing the person to live. Another alternative option includes shooting the person, but in a place in which it will stop them from being able to escape without putting their lives in complete danger. More can include, “stun guns, pepper spray, tackling a suspect or simply talking him down from an agitated state” (USA Today). Records show officers are much more likely to use lethal force against African Americans than against any other races. An unarmed African American is five times more likely to be killed by a police than the rates of that of an unarmed white man. Many of the lives taken could have easily been spared if officers would have taken one of these alternative methods above. 

Police officers can implement many rules and programs into their departments to try to lessen these behaviors and actions as well. One of these include specific training programs in which their main point is to learn how not to use racism and racial profiling in the line of duty.  This training could include surveys based on what an officer would do in certain cases, and take these answers to teach them what they should actually do. Cops could also do the task of simply getting to know the community they are working in better, and meeting people who can help officers understand the job they are getting into. Also, officers could take lie detector tests to try to find out if racism affects their performance on the job. This would cost money, but for a very good reason. Another path that can be taken is more gun safety classes so officers know how to properly use them and where to shoot someone that would not kill them, but rather hinder their actions. Cops can learn about the places on a body in which to shoot on a scale. The very last point on this scale would be places that would kill the human, which would only be used in very specific and bad situations. Many of the current situations that have happened would not call for this type of measure, so many lives would be spared in the future. 

A main effort that can be done to highly decrease the number of unnecessary police killings would be the input of body cameras into all police departments in the United States. Body cameras are, “A small video camera worn on the body, typically used by police officers to record arrests, evidence from crime scenes, etc.,” (Oxford). What these devices would do is record all of the actions committed by officers while they are in the line of duty. The device would either manually be put on, or the department could automatically put it on when someone’s shift is supposed to be starting. What these cameras will do it make is much easier to verify what the cops have been doing while working. Cops would feel more obligated than they had before to follow proper procedure and only use fatal approaches to situations when actually necessary. Also, this would mean that if an officer did not use the correct procedure, it would be much easier to punish them for the crimes they committed, and not have these actions be covered up by police departments since it would all be on tape. 

Police body cameras would not only help protect the citizens from a police shooting, but also the police officer from harm while on duty. Being a police officer is a very risky career to follow. The crimes they come across almost every day can put their lives in major danger. These cameras, watching the moves of others around them, could be a deflection for anyone who had ever thought about committing a crime against or near an officer. Also, if a crime were committed, the whole ordeal would be caught on film by the camera, which could be used to easily punish the perpetrator for said crime. This can make everyone in the community safer overall. 

The logistics of this type of program would be very costly. In order for this to truly have a chance of working, every department in America would need body cameras for each of their officers. These cameras cost about $400 to $1000 to purchase a singular camera, which can add up when thinking about larger city police departments. Also, these departments would have to be paying storage fees for the videos they require, which could cost around $100 a month per camera (Kotowski). Many city and rural area police departments in this country would not be able to afford this kind of program. The Federal Government would have to help a significant amount in order to pay for this particular possible solution to the problem. 

Some communities have already had these cameras initiated into their policing community. One example would be in the city of Boston, where they have been having an ongoing pilot trial of cameras on a percentage of their officers. Their police department has enforced this by the following: “100 officers assigned the cameras have generated more than 10,000 unique videos representing nearly 1,500 hours of footage, (Marcelo). They have found that with the officers wearing the body cameras, there have been no complaints or wrongdoing that has been recorded. An incident that did happen in this department was the police shooting a mentally disturbed man. They are investigating this situation, but no one in the camera program was involved. This could mean that if these officers had been wearing the cameras, this situation could have possibly ended a lot differently. 

Some concerns over body cameras implementation have emerged since the technology was introduced. One of these concerns is that the technology may have flaws since almost all types of technology do. In order to reduce this, the best engineers and inventers must be working on the project in order for it to be near perfect. When there still are the slight technological issues, these will probably be very minor and something that will have to be dealt with in order to help deal with this massive problem of killings. Another complaint I have heard about the cameras is the fact that some officers may not always turn the camera on when in the line of duty. This could allow the officer to still commit these acts, without having them be filmed by the camera. There are two possibly solutions to this problem. First, the camera could be automatically turned on when an officer starts his shift and would not turn off until the shift is over. Also, police departments could have major disciplinary actions if they witness this kind of activity. This discipline could include unpaid leave, or even the loss of a job if occurring more than one time. 

One of the largest concerns that I believe is on people’s minds is the privacy these cameras will take away from citizens of the United States. Since the cameras will be on at all points of an officer’s shift, many random citizens will be recorded throughout the day without their knowledge that this is going on. This is seen by many as a type of “Big Brother” because they feel as though none of their actions can be done without being in the public eye. This issue is confusing because it is unknown if the videos produced by these cameras would be available to the public, or only for the eyes of the authorities. The Los Angeles Times described the feeling by saying the cameras “"sometimes captures people at the worst moments of their lives," (Pearce). Also, many of the cases police come in contact with are very sensitive. If it has something to do with death, rape, domestic violence, or anything of the sort, most people would not want this information being available for the world to see. Some of the issues that arise are ones that we are unsure of. What type of balance can be made between safety, and the rights of citizens?

These issues are ones that everyone should be thinking about. The pros and cons for this type of issue will never go away. In order to gain one thing there is usually the fall of one or many other things. In this case, it is the gain of saving lives but with the fall of one’s privacy. Personally, I think the lives matter more. Life is a precious thing that no one should have to give up too soon, especially at the hands of those who are supposed to protect us. Although I understand the want for privacy in my life, it is not something I see to be as big a deal as one’s life. If someone is not going anything illegal, it should not matter if the police record you because they will not care to be paying attention to you and move on. The critiques of this program, although valid, are not valid enough to not try. 

Police brutality, especially because of race, is an issue that should have been solved long before today. Living in the United States of America, we are supposed to be an accepting, progressive country, but these actions are not saying that same message.  This issue has many possible solutions to help, and I believe the best option would be police body cameras. They can hold everyone accountable for their actions and help save lives of Americans each and every day. Although there may be some downfalls or complications with the idea, I do not think these issues are as important as human lives. This is the most important issue of all. 

 