I do not think body cameras are a sufficient reform to prevent future police violence against African Americans. Police cameras may be a useful tool to begin to hold officers responsible for their actions during interactions with the public, but video evidence has not been sufficient to result in indictments in some cases. The most vivid of these was the Eric Garner Case. A positive example of video evidence was the case of Walter Scott who was shot in the back while running away from a police officer in South Carolina. The police officer was seen on camera shooting the unarmed man. The police officer was indicted and charged with murder. The different results in these cases demonstrates that video evidence can be a useful tool to discover the true interactions between police and black civilians, but it also demonstrates that the results may vary by case and are by no means a 100 percent effective way to hold officers accountable.
I think that there must be more substantial reforms within police forces including in training and department policies.
I agree. There has to be a multi-prong strategy. That said, training for what? In what areas should police be trained and what type of policies should be developed that don't already exist?
ReplyDeleteAgreed, it is not enough. It seems like a simple solution but there will always be systemic racism. So in the higher rankings in the police department, there will always be a way to "hide" the evidence and tapes collected.
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely not enough and it will be tough to ever take away the racism surrounding the police force.
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely not enough and it will be tough to ever take away the racism surrounding the police force.
ReplyDeleteIn Response to Judith's post from what I have read the majority of police training is focused on how to handle violent encounters. This leads to police having a lack of understanding on ways to deescalate situations. The real issue is that there is inadequate funding to train police in all necessary areas. So I think the best policy choice right now is to pass legislation to provide increased funding to police training in the specific areas of non-violent altercations.
ReplyDeleteI don't think body cameras are a good solution, either. This reminds me of Michel Foucault's social theory of panopticism. To give a brief history of this, it is based off of the Panopticon, a prison designed so that the prisoners felt as though they were always being watched, whether or not they actually were. While this kept them from engaging in deviant behavior, it created a very paranoid environment and drove many inmates crazy. I think body cameras, security cameras, and things of that sort are a form of panopticism. Making people fearful of doing the wrong thing doesn't necessarily mean they are doing the right thing. For this reason, I think body cameras are not a good solution to the criminal (in)justice problem we face today.
ReplyDeleteI don't think body cameras are a good solution, either. This reminds me of Michel Foucault's social theory of panopticism. To give a brief history of this, it is based off of the Panopticon, a prison designed so that the prisoners felt as though they were always being watched, whether or not they actually were. While this kept them from engaging in deviant behavior, it created a very paranoid environment and drove many inmates crazy. I think body cameras, security cameras, and things of that sort are a form of panopticism. Making people fearful of doing the wrong thing doesn't necessarily mean they are doing the right thing. For this reason, I think body cameras are not a good solution to the criminal (in)justice problem we face today.
ReplyDeleteGreat comment about Foucault's use of the panopticon. Also if the panopticon really works, and I have my doubts, then people police themselves because they fear, at all times, but don't know, except for every once in awhile, that someone is watching them. It does not work with for most people so why should it work for police officers?
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of these points. Especially the idea of self-policing that is supposed the end goal of the panopticon. Despite my doubts about the effectiveness of the panopticon, I do feel that society is scrutinized and surveilled in almost every aspect of our lives. Why then are the police not scrutinized in a similar fashion? Police already have dashboard cameras that are intended to capture the altercations between police and people, but often these dashboard cameras provide a one sided view of interactions between police and people. I feel that we are already almost always being monitored by the disciplines of power in one way or another. Because of this I feel that the disciplines of power (the police in this case) should be monitored as well. While I do not believe this would be a quick fix to the rampant systemic racism in the whole Criminal Justice system I do feel that it is at least a step towards holding sites of power responsible for their actions.
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