Body cams are worn by law enforcement officials in order to improve the Encounters between the police and the general public. It has been found that the use of body cameras enhances the public’s perception of transparency and legitimacy. There are several police departments who have adopted the body cam technology in order to improve the quality of the services that they provide to the local community.
Benefits of body cams
There have been several findings that show that officers who wear body cameras generated fewer complaints and the use of force was greatly reduced as well. This in turn lead to cost savings for the police department because the reduced complaint against the officers mean that there was less time required to analyse any of those complaints.
Body cameras a great to increase accountability and the general public as well as the police support the use of body cameras for this reason only. This small piece of equipment can easily create evidence which would showcase all sorts of interactions between the parties that are involved and everybody can be held accountable for their actions.The cameras can help protect the public against police misconduct and at the same time it also helps protect the police against any source of false accusations of abuse.
There have been times when officers have been held accountable and citizens walked into a department to file a complaint but once they see the photos of themselves on the video that turn and walked back out. There is no doubt that using body cameras can reduce the number of Complaints against the officers. In fact there are many police executives who have seen an overwhelming report that their Agencies have experienced a drop in the Complaints against officers who wear body cameras.
Body cameras not only promote accountability but it can also promote transparency this is because the law enforcement allows the public to see exactly what the officers are doing and how are they carrying out their duties. The actions of a officer become a matter of public record and this increases the sense of trust and security in the general public. Using body cameras is also one way of investigating the officers behaviour and sometimes the footage can actually help improve their performance.
This transparency code be used to bridge the gap between the police and the public and can also help improve the officers performance and the conduct of the civilians. It is a known fact that people would act appropriately if they know that they are being watched the same goes for the individuals who know that they are wearing a body camera or that they are being observed by the body camera.
Body cams from Comvision Australia can act as impartial eyewitness. When it comes to an individual remembering the event they are only going to remember the gist of it on the other hand when it comes to the body cam these can record the whole event and the dialogue exactly as it happened and therefore provide an impartial account to the law enforcement officials and the public at the same time.