This is my response to a fellow student's article which overviewed the pros and cons of police body cameras. You can find the original post written by Ashley Arnerich here:
!Effects and Affects of the American Government!: Body Cameras
My Response: While I think that Ashley makes some great points about the pros and cons of police officers being required to wear body cameras, I truly think they'll do more good than harm. One concern that was mentioned in this post was the concern about public privacy being seen all over the internet. I truly don't think the footage would be used for anything other than review by the police department and other officials. Whatever is recorded would only be used as evidence in a case that has been disputed. In this scenario, any and all recorded video would be beneficial to the officer and citizen alike.
I also understand the privacy concern for the police officers, but I think it'd be safe to assume that any time the officer is "off the clock" (at lunch, using the bathroom, etc) they would not be required to leave their cameras on. Obviously, there could be issues where the officer forgets to turn their camera back on or they don't do so on purpose- it's not a perfect system, but it's a hell of a lot better than letting police murder unarmed citizens and then lie about it to their superiors and the general public.
I also don't see this as invading the officer's privacy. Dash cams already exist and this would only be an added measure to make them more credible. You have to realize that in the U.S. there is a huge level of distrust between the police and the public. The string of recent shootings involving officers and unarmed citizens is escalating at a horrifying rate. Police officers become cops to uphold the law, and any decent cop would understand the necessity for body cameras. Officers who are opposed seem like they have something to hide. In order for trust to be rebuilt there must be transparency. I'll take the 59% drop in police use of force in exchange for an officer's possible loss of "privacy."
Friday, May 15, 2015
Why Are We Treating Immigrants Like Criminals?
In the past few weeks a lot of attention has been drawn to the issue of immigrant detention camps. Despite what you may or may not know about detention camps, we can all agree that it's an inhumane measure. The biggest offense is that most of the people they're detaining are women and children. The purpose of these camps are basically to ensure that suspected illegal immigrants show up to their court hearings that would ultimately decide whether they are allowed to stay or require deportation. You might think -so these people are being held be the government for an indiscernible amount of time? That's horrible! It gets worse.
These "camps" are very shabbily set up and immigrants are treated like prisoners. They're held in cells and these conditions are cruel at best. These people have done nothing wrong. Their only offense is that they came to this country in search for something- usually to improve their lives and their children's lives. The issue isn't "should we take a better look at immigration detention ceneters?" The issue is "Why are we treating innocent people like criminals?" Some articles I've read on the subject have talked about how Immigration officials are suggesting working on improving the condition of these detention facilities and making sure that every case is reviewed in at least 90 days. Truly, how is this going to make anything better? Throwing families into cells and putting children through the trauma that these detention facilities will inevitably cause is inexcusable. Yes, there are Americans (mostly middle and upper class white people) who are concerned by the growing number of immigrants in the U.S., and while I understand that our government has to respond to these criticisms, we have no right to treat fellow, innocent human beings like common criminals. The thing that bothers me the most is that we all know who's being held in these centers- it's not the millionaire illegal British family, it's the hard working family from Mexico who came here in search of a better life. If we continue with this system, we won't have to worry about anyone ever wanting to move here. Problem solved, right?
These "camps" are very shabbily set up and immigrants are treated like prisoners. They're held in cells and these conditions are cruel at best. These people have done nothing wrong. Their only offense is that they came to this country in search for something- usually to improve their lives and their children's lives. The issue isn't "should we take a better look at immigration detention ceneters?" The issue is "Why are we treating innocent people like criminals?" Some articles I've read on the subject have talked about how Immigration officials are suggesting working on improving the condition of these detention facilities and making sure that every case is reviewed in at least 90 days. Truly, how is this going to make anything better? Throwing families into cells and putting children through the trauma that these detention facilities will inevitably cause is inexcusable. Yes, there are Americans (mostly middle and upper class white people) who are concerned by the growing number of immigrants in the U.S., and while I understand that our government has to respond to these criticisms, we have no right to treat fellow, innocent human beings like common criminals. The thing that bothers me the most is that we all know who's being held in these centers- it's not the millionaire illegal British family, it's the hard working family from Mexico who came here in search of a better life. If we continue with this system, we won't have to worry about anyone ever wanting to move here. Problem solved, right?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)