With another acquittal of a police officer who shot a black man, people are beginning to question whether or not body cams on police officers are actually doing anything. In my opinion, the problem is not the body cams themselves, but how we are interpreting the data that they provide us.
We have seen in various high-profile cases the introduction of footage as evidence, such as the Philando Castile case. When it comes to documenting their actions, the body cams are doing their jobs.
As a result, the defense attorneys have now switched tactics. Instead of vying for a lack of evidence they challenge the character of the individuals, continuing negative stereotypes and stigmas about African-Americans, such as the idea that they are more prone to criminal activities and conflict with the police officers. These ideas have created an environment where it is more acceptable to kill African-Americans because it is normal to fear that they are “dangerous.”
During his trial, officer Jeronimo Yanez stated that he “feared for his life," using this sense of fear for his safety to justify his shooting of Castile. Now, as a police officer, Yanez’s job is to protect and serve, a concept that seems difficult when you have an unjustified fear for an individual. And I place an emphasis on unjustified, because through the video provided by Yanez’s body cam Castile was completely compliant with all of the arresting officer's directives.
So it's not body cams that are the problem, because it's not tracking the police officer’s actions that is the issue.
It is holding them accountable for their actions. By continually acquitting officers you make their actions acceptable. By not properly punishing them we are encouraging their behaviors. The first step towards eliminating police brutality is to eliminate the culture around it, which is the idea that they can get away with it. We cannot do that when we have a side that continues to deny that there is an issue.
Are all police racist? Absolutely not. But it’s the bad ones that give the rest of them a bad image. We are reliant on good police officers to call out the bad ones.
There is no denying that there is an issue. When African-Americans have more of a sense of fear than a sense of safety around police officers, there is an issue. Body cams can’t fix this issue, and the government can’t legislate a solution. The solution comes from both sides of the aisle having a meaningful dialogue between them. That’s how we fix this issue, and we need to fix it soon.