Are Police Dash Cameras and Body Cams Even Effective?

Police dash cameras and body cameras are meant to increase the accountability of the officer and department, promote transparency, and help form trusting relationships between police officers and citizens. But are these cameras actually doing the job that they’re intended to do?

With so much media focus on the tension between cops and citizens, it’s easy to believe that police dash cameras and body cams aren’t doing any good. The reality is, however, that excessive force by police has dropped significantly.

In 2015, the Police Department for the City Council’s Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee conducted a report on the San Diego police. The report found that once the department began using body cameras, complaints against the police force fell 40.5%, and excessive force dropped overall with a 46.5% decrease in the use of bodily force and a 30.5% decrease in the use of pepper spray.

With the addition of these “impartial witnesses,” so to speak, both police and citizens appear to be consciously checking their behaviors in order to prevent conflict. In a separate report published in 2016, conducted at the University of Cambridge, researchers found studying 2,000 officers in both the U.S. and the U.K. found that wearable body cameras, and presumably dash cameras as well, have lowered police complaints by a shocking 93%.

“There can be no doubt that body-worn cameras increase the transparency of frontline policing. Anything that has been recorded can be subsequently reviewed, scrutinised and submitted as evidence,” said Dr. Barak Ariel, the lead author of the study and criminologist at Cambridge.

Of course complaints still arise. But like Dr. Ariel said, it is now possible to hold police officers accountable for their wrongdoings, while it was previously impossible without verifiable witnesses.

While many people are still critical of dash and body cameras, they are designed with the best intentions: to see a situation unfolding firsthand.

The cameras available through 10-8 Video not only provide clear video display for review, but also audio recordings. This way, when and if the time comes to review surveillance, the official can both see and hear the truth and better recognize any incriminating behaviors on the citizen’s or the officer’s end.

There are no better alternatives on the market that can keep your officers and communities safe and calm when you have officers in the field. If you haven’t already, purchase police dash cameras or body cameras today.