In the wake of a spate of recent police shootings, including George Floyd in Minneapolis and Jacob Blake in Racine, many communities have begun using cameras worn on police officers’ bodies to help document police officer’s activities. The thought is that such cameras may help provide evidence indicating whether or not shooting incidents are justified, and perhaps, act as a deterrent to violent behavior, if police officers know they are being recorded. That’s the theory. In practice, however, bodyworn cameras have a host of problems and are by no means a panacea. Daniel Bromberg is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of New Hampshire who specializes in government accountability.
Featured image: North Charleston, NC Bodycam.
Ryan Johnson, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
