The talk about police and whether they should wear cameras has been going on for some years now. However, the answer to that is simple. Wearing body cameras should be required for all police officers. When there is a situation that happens without body cameras, someone ends up brutally beaten, killed, or assaulted. Not only can body cameras keep us protected, but it can keep the officers protected from evidence proven. 

There have been many opinions I’ve heard from other people around me about police officers wearing body cameras, but the only opinion that caught my attention was that they shouldn’t wear them because they would get no privacy. Why are we so worried about their need for privacy when their job is to protect and have evidence from those cameras to prove their innocence or in other words justice? Knowing how much proof there is about other people getting racially profiled, verbally and or physically abused with body cameras off. It makes me wonder why anybody would care for the privacy of police when they are working when it could be beneficial for them as well.

On March 14, 2022, Officer Walter Pacheco of Iowa was fired from his job after he was called to handle crowd control at a local bar. Multiple resources said the reason for his termination was being that he kept turning on and off his body cam when coming in contact with others. Not only did he do something he wasn’t supposed to do but he made inappropriate comments to a firefighter stating that, “instead of arresting the intoxicated people, he could have simply shot them” (Kauffman). 

After finding out that those immature and hurtful words he said were out, he attempted to say that he was joking about shooting the people. Whether it was a joke or not there are actual human beings in this world getting their life taken away from the police or people dealing with a family, friend or etc being killed by the police. For someone or anyone to say something like that shows they have absolutely no heart and do not deserve to be in control of guns. This is a prime example as to why body cameras should be mandatory, who knows what other disgusting words are being said when the cameras are not rolling.

Another incident that was even more tragic has to do with a black woman, Breonna Taylor; Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker; and three police officers, Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove of Louisville where no one was wearing their cameras or had them activated. Their motive was to search the apartment Breonna and Kenneth were staying at because of a drug related warrant they had. After police finished knocking on the door, sources said they were attempting to force their way inside the home without identifying themselves.

Shortly after officers tried barging their way into the couple’s home, they were approached by Kenneth who fired a warning shot at them as he thought people were breaking into his home. After Kenneth shot at police, it struck Officer Mattingly in the leg so the officers fired 32 shots in return with 6 of them hitting Breonna who was standing behind her boyfriend. With all the commotion going on, Kenneth was arrested and charged with assault and attempted murder towards an officer even though he was licensed to carry and fired shots as a result in self-defense.

Protests went on for months after the case of Breonna Taylor and were arguing that it was police brutality and racism. It was also stated that an officer pleaded guilty to lying about the warrant and trying to write other reports to cover it up. This case stuck out to me so much that I knew I had to use this to prove my point. Not only was she a black woman and not only were the cameras off but police officers knew what they were doing and lied about the whole situation when they knew it wasn’t them.

Ultimately, it should be required and remembered that all police officers should wear their body cameras at all times or else consequences should be given. The unnecessary lying and traumatic deaths that have happened without any footage to determine what really happened on both sides could have been avoided. Body cameras can protect both parties against false accusations and or abuse.