Are Police Body Cameras Effective?
They told us they would build trust and hold police officers accountable.
When former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown in 2014, it was, as my mother would say, “the straw that broke the camel’s back.” Black people in Ferguson, Missouri were tired of police harassment. And Brown’s death exacerbated that problem. The death of Brown sparked a movement known only by the name of the town in which it occurred, Ferguson. What happened in Ferguson inspired thousands across America to speak up, and to advocate for justice. Around that same time, the media thrust Black Lives Matter, an anti-racism organization concerned specifically about Black people’s oppression, onto the national scene. Social media and the 24/7 news cycle assisted with spreading images and videos of activists blocking major highways in cities and small towns. Black Lives Matter activists’ disrupted the Clinton’s 2016 campaign speeches challenging them on the 1994 crime bill. The reformists wanted America to shine a spotlight on white supremacy, police brutality, and the unjust laws that further inequality. They wanted police accountability, and they wanted police killings to cease.
For some legal experts, activists, and scholars, part of police reform meant equipping police officers with body-worn cameras. “We need to bring them online as quickly as prudently feasible,”…
