UPDATED 15:23 EDT / DECEMBER 04 2014

Police worn ObamaCams could have prevented Eric Garner’s chokehold death

Obama offers $263 million for police body cams to prevent another Ferguson

A Staten Island grand jury decided not to indict the NYPD police officer whose chokehold on an unarmed African American resulted in the man’s death. The case made national headlines when video footage shot by onlookers went viral after being posted online. In it, Eric Garner can be seen arguing with police officers, and ignoring their commands. Officer Daniel Pantaleo then forced the victim to the ground, administering a chokehold from behind. Garner can be heard repeatedly saying that he couldn’t breathe, as additional officers struggled to restrain him. He died during the altercation, and the city’s medical examiner declared it a homicide. After seeing video footage, and hearing from witnesses, the grand jury decided that there wasn’t enough evidence to bring charges against the officer. Angry protesters marched in Manhattan, Washington, and elsewhere, with the familiar mantra, “No justice, no peace.”

The decision couldn’t have come at a less opportune time. It was only one week ago that a grand jury in Missouri refused to indict the police officer who shot and killed an unarmed black teenager in the city of Ferguson. Those jurors heard 70 hours of testimony from 60 witnesses, and each version of the altercation seemed to contradict the next. One of the primary reasons they didn’t indict the officer is because it was impossible to determine exactly what happened. Riots and looting have been an ongoing problem in Ferguson since that decision was announced. Elected officials, community leaders, police officers, and citizens are pondering, discussing, and debating how to effectively reduce fatal interactions with the police. It has become increasingly evident that perception is just as important as reality in such cases. Regardless of the hard work done by grand juries, if the public is unconvinced that justice was served, people are likely to take their frustrations to the street, which often results in additional tragedies. One possible solution to these various problems is technology, in the form of high definition, body worn digital cameras.

President Obama wants to increase police officers’ use of body worn cameras. Earlier this week, in response to the situation in Ferguson, he proposed spending $263 million on cameras and training. The program, which would require congressional approval, would provide $75 million over three years for 50,000 “ObamaCams”. Outfitting a police force with body cams is no easy task, but there’s ample evidence that they offer substantial benefits, and address many of the above mentioned problems.

The most obvious benefit of a police officer wearing an ObamaCam is the accurate recording of events as they transpire. In the absence of other witnesses, what happened during an interaction between an officer and a citizen is, at best, the word of the officer against the word of the citizen. When police officers determine that deadly force is necessary, the word of the officer might be the only side of the story heard. ObamaCam footage would offer an impartial, third-party observation. Police incident video footage is valuable even when multiple witnesses are present. Numerous studies have documented the fallibility of human memory. Some neuroscientists claim that memories are subject to change each time they’re recalled. It explains why the witnesses to the shooting in Ferguson wholeheartedly believe their versions of what happened, even though they contradict each other. Had Officer Wilson been equipped with a body cam, the grand jury would have been able to see if Michael Brown was peacefully surrendering, as some witnesses claimed, or if he was charging furiously towards the officer, as other witnesses, and Officer Wilson himself, testified. An indictment would have been far more likely, had the jury seen footage with the former scenario, and the public would have been far less likely to riot, had the decision not to indict been accompanied with footage of the latter.

Police officers equipped with body cams could also prevent situations like the one that claimed the life of of Eric Garner. Critics of the ObamaCam proposal claim that the abundance of footage of police officers attempting to subdue Garner is evidence of the uselessness of police body cams. Nothing could be further from the truth. The value of officer worn cameras goes beyond the footage it captures. The psychological effect on both the officers wearing cameras and the citizens they come into contact with is arguably more significant than the footage itself.

Police officers have numerous ways to legally and appropriately handle situations. Police officers equipped with body cams have been shown to choose options that are more likely to diffuse altercations without the use of force. One extended study documented a California police department’s instances of officers using force reduced by 60 percent, after they started wearing body cams. The highly visible camera also serves as a constant reminder to citizens that their language and demeanor in response to the officer, is being recorded, and that, should the situation become more serious, their role in the escalation will be indisputable. Had he been wearing a body cam, Officer Pantaleo might have dealt with Garner less aggressively. If Garner was dealing with officers wearing body cams, he might have complied with their orders, making the use of force completely unnecessary.

There are problems with today’s police force, as evidenced by the forthcoming presidential Task Force on 21st Century Policing. They go beyond the unnecessary use of force, and race relations. Citizens are just as concerned with the militarization of local police departments, and tactical shifts, like the increase in no-knock warrants and SWAT raids.The body camera effect will almost certainly make a difference in those areas, as well. There are several implementation and application hurdles that stand in the way of widespread police body cam usage, but the fact that the increased accountability and transparency will have a positive effect on a wide range of police issues is reason enough to contact your local police department and city council to request police body cams for your community.

photo credit: Benjamin Godard Photography via photopin cc


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