We’ve all heard it before: “Body cameras are the answer! Transparency! Accountability!” These buzzwords echo through the media every time another horrifying video of police violence surfaces. Politicians pat themselves on the back for throwing money at body camera programs, and even some civil liberties groups have bought into the hype, calling them a win-win for everyone.
But as a criminal lawyer who sees the inside of the system, I’m here to tell you: don’t believe the hype.
Sure, body cameras will help to increase accountability, ensure detainees and people interacting with police behave better, and make collection of evidence a lot easier. But they are not a silver bullet to stop police violence or racial profiling in its tracks.
The recent article “The Body Camera: The Language of our Dreams” by Alec Karakatsanis and published in the Yale Journal of Law and Liberation exposes the ugly truth. The push for body cameras isn’t about genuine reform; it’s about increasing police power and making a profit. This technology is a bureaucrat’s best friend, not a tool for holding them accountable.
This isn’t some conspiracy theory; it’s right there in the marketing materials. Before Michael Brown’s tragic death in Ferguson, body camera companies were aggressively pitching their products to police departments as a way to avoid liability and increase convictions. As the article highlights, Taser/Axon CEO Rick Smith bluntly stated in 2012 that a “big reason to have these is defensive. Police spend $2 billion to $2.5 billion a year paying off complaints about brutality.”
The CEOs knew their audience, focusing on officer anxieties about lawsuits and promising protection from civilian complaints. It was only after Ferguson, when public outrage reached fever pitch, that they cynically rebranded body cameras as tools for “accountability.”
The most frustrating part? They’ve successfully co-opted academics and civil liberties organizations to sell this narrative. Think tanks and researchers, often funded by the very industry they claim to scrutinize, churn out reports praising body cameras as a progressive solution. Meanwhile, the American media largely regurgitates police talking points, rarely giving space to critics or questioning the lack of evidence supporting their effectiveness. While Canadian media do somewhat better, the overarching theme still appears to be the need for body cameras to make things better.
Let’s be clear: substantive change from the top down is the only way to improve the relationship between the police and the public, especially the racialized public.
The evidence just isn’t there. The United States Department of Justice itself concluded that there is “no consistent or statistically significant” proof that body cameras reduce police violence or achieve other desired outcomes.
So, let’s be clear: body cameras are a distraction. They allow us to feel like we’re doing something about police violence while the real issues — over-incarceration of racialized groups, racial profiling, and the over-policing of marginalized communities — continue to fester.
Don’t let the shiny tech blind you. Body cameras are not about accountability. They’re about control, profit, and maintaining the status quo. They’re a powerful reminder that real change requires more than just slapping a band-aid on a broken system.
