The student news site of Pleasant Valley High School

Spartan Shield

The student news site of Pleasant Valley High School

Spartan Shield

The student news site of Pleasant Valley High School

Spartan Shield

Somebody’s watching: police body cameras and their effectiveness

Senior+Ian+Wilger+poses+with+a+camera+to+show+how+body+cameras+can+affect+situations+that+police+find+themselves+in.+
Christopher Cumberbatch
Senior Ian Wilger poses with a camera to show how body cameras can affect situations that police find themselves in.

Body Cameras or Worn Video (BWV) by police officers are made, according to the Police Foundation “to protect Police officers, to increase situational awareness of the officer, improving Community Relations, and Accountability.”

On October 12, police officer Aaron Dean fatally shot 28-year-old Tatiana Jefferson in her home with his body camera rolling the entire time. At no point did she ever make a move to attack or do anything to the police officer and was told roughly to “Put your hands in the air!” Jefferson was shot and killed. Incidents like these raise a question if body cameras actually work.

Statistics disagree, In 70 empirical studies done by researchers, they found that the average use of force an officer would use with a body camera was virtually the same as if they did not have a camera. The most notable difference the police officers experienced with BWVs was a dramatic decrease in citizen complaints. “There’s an incongruence between people’s expectations of cameras, police expectations of cameras and what they think they’re being used for,” said Cynthia Lum

Officers have expressed that they like body cameras because of the decrease in complaints in the areas that they have been used. They are also increasing in popularity, with police officers in New Jersey joining the trend and a new Iowa legislative bill pushing for body camera footage to become public. 

“I think that depending on the person it can make an actual difference,” sophomore Joe Kilstrom said. While his sentiment didn’t prove itself always true in the studies. There is an element of self-control that is increased in any situation when someone is being watched. 

Another sophomore Ryan Groennenboom had a different perspective. “We don’t need police body cameras because police brutality and violence don’t really happen,” he said. Body cameras were a large reason that Tanitia’s death was so publicized and if more people see what actually happens in police shootings it will be more clear of what actually happens. In the future, body cameras could create a healthier relationship between citizens and police officers and stop situations like Tatiana’s from happening.

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Chris Cumberbatch, Photo Manager
Chris is a senior at Pleasant Valley High School who has just moved to the Quad CIty area after attending school at Langley High School in Washington D.C.. While Chris is tenacious with his studies at school, he also applies that same level of resolve with his past rowing team in DC and now with the Y Quad Cities Rowing Team. With him competing in the Scholastic Rowing Championship last year, Chris hopes that he can continue his success in his final year in High School and maybe even beyond. In his free time, Chris enjoys hanging out with friends at the movies and rooting for the Patriots, Celtics, and other Boston based teams. He hopes that his experience from writing his own book will help him contribute as the Assistant to the Editor-in-Chief to the Spartan Shield in his final year of High School.  
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Somebody’s watching: police body cameras and their effectiveness