Police Department*

Police Department*

1. Body wore cameras

   • The initial push for body cameras in law enforcement was for accountability and transparency. The Police Executive Research Forum, 98.1 percent of people, identified these reasons (Cost and Benefits Of Body-Worn Camera Deployments Final Report, 2018, p. 27)
     • What is the cost-benefit of a Body-worn program?
       • The statistical analysis was difficult to determine according to the same study. However, it was easy to identify the cost of a body-worn program for a police department. Hardware, storage feeds, and maintained costs were all quantifiable and easily recorded. However, the benefit was not. It was difficult to investigate the qualitative benefit of having a body-worn camera program. One investigating technique was the reduction of civil suits. A study involving the Mesa Police Department, lawsuit data pre and post-body camera problems demonstrated a slight decrease in overall payouts. (Cost and Benefits Of Body-Worn Camera Deployments Final Report, 2018, p.38)
       • The cost-benefit analyst is not about measurable units or identifiable data points. It is about the original objective of the program, accountability, and transparency. A true cost-benefit analyst can only be measured by the relationship between the community and police.

2. Facial recognition software (Pros & Cons)

   • (Pro) - The use for Identification during the booking process.
     • Proper use of facial recognition software for law enforcement is identifying individuals who are already in custody for a criminal offense. This type of application was successfully applied in Orlando Flordia in 2017 with the identification of a person who refused to be identified with mutilated fingerprints. (“How the Police Use Facial Recognition, and Where It Falls Short,” 2020)
   • (Con) - Little to no oversight
     • In the same article, Flordia police departments have little or no oversight in the use of facial recognition software. (“How the Police Use Facial Recognition, and Where It Falls Short,” 2020). Not establishing an independent oversight committee on law enforcement's use of facial recognition software is significantly dangerous. Especially with the growing need to produce results.

3. The ethical use of technology in policing

   • Police departments can not be expected to police themselves. The demand to produce and the rapid growth of technology create unreasonable expectations and set the stage for unethical use of technology. As a society based on checks and balances, we should realize this development and take the necessary steps to prevent this inevitable outcome by removing this decision-making process from police departments with established oversight committees.

Images and files in the map

• Bwc Cost Benefit (application/pdf)
• How+The+Police+Use+Facial+Recognition,+And+Where+It+Falls+Short+ +The+New+York+Times (application/pdf)