On Nov. 25, prosecutor Robert McCulloch announced the grand jury would not indict police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
In his announcement to the media, he implied the decision was due to conflicting and unreliable eyewitness testimonies.
There were no videotapes or photographs of the shooting—so there is no direct evidence or proof to back up any eyewitness accounts of the shooting.
But if Wilson was wearing a camera this wouldn’t be an issue.
Amidst all the confusion, a solution to prevent this from happening again is to make all police officers wear body cameras.
Both the shooting and the lack of indictment sparked national outrage in the United States, with protests across the country and even at the United States embassy in Ottawa.
Shooting an unarmed teenager multiple times does not constitute self-defense.
Police use of deadly force in the United States is a senseless epidemic and body cameras are one way to stop it.
In Canada, police forces are already using these cameras in Calgary, Vancouver, and Toronto. But they are not mandatory in the United States.
Some officers in Ferguson, Missouri started wearing them after the shooting, according to CBC.
“Join with us in our campaign to ensure that every police officer working the streets in this country wears a body camera,” the Brown family said in a statement.
Police use of deadly force is an unfortunate reality, especially in the United States and something needs to be done about it.
On Nov. 22. Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy, died after being shot by a police officer for holding what turned out to be a replica gun on a playground in Cleveland, Ohio.
And in July 2014, Eric Garner died of a heart attack due to being placed in a chokehold while being arrested for suspected sale of untaxed cigarettes.
In 2013 alone, 461 suspects were shot by police in the United States, according to a USA Today analysis of available data from the FBI.
Police officers are supposed to be trained professionals who make quick but reasonable decisions that aim to contribute to the greater good of society.
They are supposed to maintain and restore peace and enforce the law, only taking severe measures if absolutely necessary. For a majority of police officers this is the case.
But at the end of the day, they are still human beings.
We can be racist, vindictive, angry, unprofessional, and irrational.
Regardless of what Wilson’s feelings or intentions were on the day he killed Brown, if he had been wearing a camera, not only would Brown possibly be alive today, but the case would be more transparent.
The evidence of the benefits of body cameras is positive.
Complaints against officers fell from 24 per cent to 3 per cent, while instances of police force declined from 61 to 25—and that’s only half the department wearing cameras, in the first year of a California study of police and body cameras, according to the New York Times.
Truth is, humans are more likely to behave better when on-camera. This works both ways, the police officers and the general public.
Police have already started wearing cameras and the results are encouraging. It should be a mandatory policy for police to wear body cameras while on duty.
If you are worried about having your actions recorded, you probably aren’t doing your job properly.
