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Effects of Body Cameras

De’Aunjana’e Wise

Police body cameras also referred to as Body Worn Cameras are a type of camera that captures video footage and audio, worn mostly by police officers and other law enforcement members. The purpose of the body cameras is to justify officers use of force, protect the citizens and officers from being wrongly accused. The use of body cameras has recently increased after controversial deaths that involved officers using lethal force, leading to protests breaking out in Ferguson, MO after the death of Michael Brown, a teenager that was killed by an police officer. The police officer did not even get charged for the death of Brown and because of that many debates started on whether body cameras should have been present. Many people wonder whether it would have made of difference if we had gotten the chance to see the entire scene from the officer's body camera. The citizens want coverage of the police daily actions, so they can feel protected by the police and not fear them. The use of police body cameras could have positive effects on the police and its community by increasing their trust, protecting police officers and decreasing the amount of police misconduct.

The use of body cameras will enhance the relationship between the police and the community and decrease the amount of police misconduct. “There’s a lot of second guessing of law enforcement and public accusations of excessive force and improprieties,” stated Frank V. Rotondo, executive director of Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police. This will help put back the public confidence (Boone and Schneider 3). The use of body cameras have had positive effects in Valdosta, Ga. In Valdosta, GA a study was conducted by the Police Chief Brian Childress where he had equipped his officers with body cameras in 2009, and results included the complaints against police decreasing by more than 50%  and the use of force went down dramatically (Boone and Schneider 6). Body cameras could actually decrease the police misconduct, including illegal arrest and detentions, individuals will be freer from privacy violations by law enforcement in public and private places (Thomas 200). The use of body cameras would decrease the actual and perceived level of police misconduct resulting in more public trust in law enforcement (Thomas 200). In many departments’ the body cameras program have led to a drop in the citizens’ complaints of misconduct. Greater levels of trust between the police departments and community leads to more effective policing and prevention of crime such as burglary and stalking.   

The use of body cameras has had positive effects when capturing moments and clarifying the events that took place and clearing police officers of crimes and improves their reputation within the community (Gass 2).  A recent incident that occurred in Cleveland, OH proves the benefits of the body cameras in ways which helps the law enforcement. During an incident that occurred on March 11 the body cameras showed the officers approaching the stairs to Theodore Johnson's apartment, who later on fired shoots at the officers striking Officer Muniz. The video also shows Muniz and other officers begging Johnson to put his gun down, before shooting at him. The footage caught on the body camera helped the grand jury determine that the four officers were justified in using lethal force against Johnson (Gass 3). With the Cleveland’s police reputation being damaged from the previous incident where 12 year old Tamir Rice, was shot by an officer for mistakenly having a gun, the release of the video could help lessen the amount of distrust of police. The video actually shows how the officers took drastic measures in their duty during the incident, according to Professor Burke, a former Maryland police officer.

Body cameras could actually decrease the police misconduct, including illegal arrest and detentions, individuals will be freer from privacy violations by law enforcement in public and private places (Thomas 200). The use of body cameras could prove lack of real cause for past searches and deter similar future conduct eliminating the presumption of police officers are trying to attack the community. It could also help with the privacy of individuals who have previously been victims of unlawful encounters by allowing them to have a sense of comfort (Thomas 200). In October 2012, Mesa police department had an one-year trial with the body cameras that includes 50 officers wearing Body Cameras and 50 not  (Smykla, Crow, Crichlow and Snyder). The results included 60% fewer citizens complaints against officers wearing Body Cameras compared to the other officers without body cameras. There was 40% fewer complaints overall and 75% total fewer use of force incidents overall during the trial than they did the year prior when not using the body cameras. The officers without body cameras had three times more complaints than officers with body cameras.

Even though the use of body cameras could have positive effects it does have negative effects also. The use of body cameras could overstep the boundaries when capturing footage of the citizen's private life, causing privacy issues. Other effects could leave the officers with no accountability with the body-cameras footage, and the body cameras would not have an impact on the decrease of crime. There is no clear guidelines on obtaining the body camera footage. In Los Angeles, their police department’s policy requires that the officers review the footage before preparing a report (Thomas 194). The fear of unchecked privacy violations with the decisions left up to law enforcement creates a problem for the public. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a big supported of the LAPD Body Camera program, has been concerned that this would allow the officers “an opportunity to shape their accounts around what the recording showed.” This heightened the public's awareness of the use of body cameras because they are not guaranteed access to the footage. The uncertainty that the public will not have guaranteed access to the footage caused ACLU to withdraw their support from the LAPD’s Body Camera program.     The use of body cameras means less privacy for others around the body camera including the officer who is wearing the camera. The person in an investigation may not be public during police encounter, so body cameras could record that individual in locations meant to be private. The person could say information about their personal life that could lead to embarrassment (Thomas 196).

The installment of body cameras could be expensive for the police department. The estimated cost of installing body cameras for all officers in Milwaukee, WI is the same amount as hiring 12 new police officers (Smykla, Crow, Crichlow and Snyder). In Atlanta, GA more police agencies are announcing plans to equip the police body cameras almost every week. Atlanta is expected to select a vendor to buy about 1,500 body cameras for about $2 million (Boone and Schneider 4). The cost of buying body cameras is not only expensive it is also cost about $300,000 for the storage of the footage. The body cameras would not be able to consistently capture footage from the officer's’ viewpoint. In Albuquerque Mary Hawkes was a 19 year old woman suspected of stealing a truck and was shot by Officer Jeremy Dear. The camera was not recording when he fired five shoots at Hawkes, leaving her dying along a handgun that he claimed she pointed at him before he fire (Timberg 1). There was three other officers who were on the scene but also missed the first, crucial moment. The video from the fourth camera was blurry while the fifth and sixth camera nothing at all showed up (Timberg 1). The controversy began when the idea why so many body cameras missed the incident. According to Reynaldo Chavez, a former Albuquerque police employee who was custodian of public records, he stated that “—it was a routine for officials to delete, alter or refuse to release footage because of political calculations.” This left the public wondering if the police could have tampered with the body camera’s footage. “Chavez had testified that three videos from the case showed signs of altercations and a possible deletion” (Timberg 1). This shows why a body camera can not always be reliable in every situation.

Even though the use of body cameras would invade the privacy of the citizens around the cameras it is the necessary price for desired increase in accountability and reduction in police misconduct, because the cameras would transfer the police interactions into a more public location (Thomas 195). Georgia’s has a major law on police body cameras, that goes into effect July 1. Senate Bill 94 allows officers to take their body cameras into private dwellings (Boone & Schneider 2). This will help set guidelines for the use of the body cameras. The implications of body cameras is considered to a Privacy-Privacy Tradeoff where a privacy interest affected by a certain policy looks different than the one most obviously implicated and the former may be overlooked because the impact is not as clear (Thomas 202). The use of body cameras may help decrease the amount of police misconduct in large urban cities where they can afford to install the body cameras, while it may increase in small town rural areas. The use of body cameras has tradeoffs causing them to be beneficial and harmful at different times. The change in the community towards police officers will gradually happen. Benefits would include a sense of security of one's person's’ home,  and physical freedom; results from increase observation not physical intrusions (Thomas 203). Fearing what the police could do with the body cameras is an incomplete assessment of the privacy impact without involving the potential benefits that will happen over time (Thomas 203). Minimizing the harms and maximizing benefits is the most important goal of implication the use of body cameras. The Atlanta Police Department’s has a “special order” for the camera pilot programs that states “cameras should be turned on for vehicle and pedestrian stops and pursuits, traffic accidents, and during interviews of suspects, victims or witnesses” (Boone & Schneider 4). This is clear guidelines for the use of the body cameras. Valdosta Police Department began equipping officers with body cameras six years ago, the policy makes plain that “officers shall not tamper with, alter, erase, delete, attempt to override the (body camera) in any manner, or attempt to make repairs” (Boone & Schneider 4). This would help keep the footage caught on the body cameras accurate, all while protecting the citizens.

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HBCU Band Lifestyle

     When going to a football game at an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges Universities) the school spirit is usually mind-blowing. The stands are semi-filled with each school’s colors. During timeouts you will hear, trendy modern music which is normally produced by the Marching Band. The HBCU bands usually play their instrument while dancing.

https://youtu.be/Rzpylp0IZf0

     Morgan State University marching band, better known as the Magnificent Marching Machines (M3), are the joy and pride of the football games. The band gets the crowd hyped up even when the football game is not interesting. In some instances, people have stated that the football games are cool, but they do not become interesting until the band starts playing.

     When going to a school where the athletic teams are not competitive with other schools’ athletic teams (football), games become boring. Most people look forward to half-time shows because they know that the band is going to put on a show.

     From my experience in participating in the Magnificent Marching Machines, marching band is really demanding and differs from band in high school. When participating in a college marching band, it requires a lot of memorization skills and the ability to multitask. An average week of memorize several pieces of music in a few days at a time. Also, while learning a field show including a dance routine.

    A normal week as a member of the Magnificent Marching Machines consists of practicing our music from 5pm-8pm if we practice but sometimes as late as 9pm. During practice we perform our pregame if we are playing at a home game in addition to the field show which is performed during halftime.

     Pregame incudes playing the “Fight Song” while forming the letters “M-S-U”, representing our University. The next song includes the “MSU Spirit”, while forming 150, which is to represent the 150 years since Morgan has been started. Then the band plays “Lift Every Voice” and concludes with the “Star-Spangled Banner”.

     The band then continues to play songs and do dances in the stands until the end of second quarter. Then near the end of second quarter each section huddles up and do chants and cheers to hype each other up before the halftime performance.

     The bands lines up on the sideline and make noise for the introduction of the drum major. The commentator introduces the drum major and all the songs that the bands plays. The drum major runs out and does back bends showcasing his skills and flexibility. 

https://youtu.be/CvRn6YCYDzw

     The show still does not stop for the band after the halftime show because they still must fire up the crowd for the rest of the game. After the game the band performs then Morgan State University’s Alma Mater.

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I totally agree it never fails.

Murphy's Law of Drill

The person with the shortest legs can and will get the biggest steps.

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Yes this would always happen to me in high school during marching band season.

I have this serious problem

where i cant walk normally on pavement anymore when I’m wearing sneakers . I feel the intense urge to roll step.

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Dear Marching Band,

Thank you for teaching me to move in the fastest, most graceful and quite manner every. It makes running around back stage a lot easier. As well as sneaking to the fridge. But now I’ve seem to forgotten how to walk….

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The Benefits of Attending an HBCU 

art by Kerly Noisette

When historically black colleges and universities were first created, they were a safe haven for black students who wanted to get a higher education but could not attend them without putting themselves at risk. Times have changed since the first HBCU opened its doors in 1837, but HBCUs remain great choices for black students and other students of color as well. Aside from providing some of the best programs in the country, HBCUs create a positive environment of support and community–something anyone could use when heading off to college.

I spoke to Howard University freshmen, Anaja Pinnock-Williams and Meghann Davis, and Howard alum Evyan Durham about why they chose to go to an HBCU and why they love their decision.

Keep reading

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Couldn’t have said it better myself!

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The Fabulous Dancing Dolls of Southern University 2018 “Finesse”

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Everyone is complaining about only having 70-80 kids in marching band. You don’t know pain until you only have 20-25 kids in your high school marching band. And the kids range from 9th grade to 12th grade. The immaturity is real I almost murdered a 9th grader last year

anonymous (via bandcampsecrets)

Yes my high school band was about 25 people my freshman and junior year of band. I definitely know the feeling of having immature people in the band. I just started getting flashbacks of the conversation that used to go on in class. 

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Playing loud enough to be heard in the background of an ESPN broadcast is pretty much the most a college marching band can hope for. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a fiercely competitive activity. Cracked wanted to know if the middle school stereotypes about “band geeks” hold true all the way at the top, so we sat down with John, formerly a trombonist in the Virginia Tech marching band, and Derek, a saxophonist with a Big Sky Conference team.

6 Weird Things You Experience In A Marching Band

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Painfully accurate.

Dictionary Definitions of Musicians 

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I still do not understand why some athletic teams get more funding then the marching band when some teams can not even win one game. The marching band works harder and puts more effort and time into performing amazing half-time show but barely get any funding. This issue is going on everywhere and I think it is because music is underappreciated.    

Don’t ever tell me that marching band isn’t important.

I have had so many problems with public schools putting all the emphasis on athletics. When a school’s budget is cut, they don’t choose to take a little from each program. No. They choose to completely eradicate the arts programs, usually starting with the marching band. If you don’t play sports, you’re not a valuable asset, you’re not qualified for scholarships, and you mean nothing. Marching band? Why would we be impressed that you’re in marching band?

Anyone can do that.

Okay, fine. Anyone can do marching band. Anyone can spend hours on the field doing the same forty-second section over and over and over and over. Anyone can hit over 75 precise dots on the field with the correct step sizes, the correct amount of steps, the correct timing, without being so much as an inch to either side, in order and without looking at the yard line markers or the field. Anyone can memorize all of those extremely specific points on the grass and varying counts for steps and then execute them with a shako visor pulled down over your eyes and looking up at the press box the whole time. If you look down at the yard line markers to see where you are, congratulations, you just lost points for the group.

Anyone can memorize eight pages of notes, rhythms, dynamics, phrasing, and tempos. (But of course, before you do that you have to learn an instrument with hundreds of different fingerings and learn how to make slight changes in your lips to change notes and stay in tune.) Memorize all seven and a half minutes of music and then marry it to the seventy-five pages of drill you memorized. Do them both perfectly and at the same time. But you can’t just do what you memorized. You have to do it in perfect sync with everyone around you and know how to make the slightest adjustments to fit perfectly within the group. If you’re an inch to the right or barely a thousandth of a step sharp, it’ll throw everything off.

But anyone can do that.

Then add in the fact that you don’t get any individual credit for doing this. The closest you’ll come to recognition is your identity lumped into “The Such-and-Such Marching Band” as you all march onto the field looking exactly the same. You don’t have a number on your back. You have a uniform intended to erase you and turn you into dot T14 and nothing more.

But, for some reason you can’t explain, you love it. You love throwing everything you have into this ridiculously precise pursuit and then not getting any credit for it. You start thanking people when they call you a band geek. You start taping pictures of marching bands into your locker. You start wearing your band shirt everywhere you go. Because you look at the person in an identical uniform next to you and you know that you’ve done this for them and they’ve done this for you. This is more than just a team, this is a family; and if one person is missing from the form, the show can’t ever be the same. 

It costs so much money, so much time. You’re out there on the field in the blazing sun for fourteen hours a day during summer band camp, out in the street getting frostbite on your fingertips during the holiday parade. If anyone knew what you went through for this, they would wonder what made it all worth it.

And the truth is, what makes it all worth it cannot be described. It’s the camaraderie between you and the center snare, the colorguard newbie, the tenor sax player in the set in front of you. It’s the sunset behind you lighting up the back of your plume. It’s the hazy nostalgia that racks your chest with emotion. There’s something about the family you’ve chosen and the experience you’ve internalized that gives you the passion to throw everything down onto that field like nothing else matters in the world… because in that moment, it’s true. 

Your nerves are damaged from the cold. Your skin is damaged from the sun. Your joints are damaged from marching and marching and marching. You’re physically and mentally drained, your body is irreversibly compromised, you’re broke as hell, and all you have to show for it is a polyester jacket and a couple of blurry photographs.

But sports are what require hard work and dedication, not marching band.

Even though you complained basically the entire time you marched and even though you’re done with it, you pull out those photographs and you remember. You remember your first day of high school band camp when you had absolutely no idea what you were getting yourself into. You remember your first final retreat when they announced your band’s name as state champions, and you wanted to cry with happiness but you weren’t allowed to move, so you just clenched your fists so tight that your fingernails dug white crescents into your palms. You remember coming back the next year and thinking you knew everything as a sophomore, only to realize there was still so much to learn. You remember the band trips you spent months fundraising for, all the lame tourist attractions you visited between performances, and how you wouldn’t trade those memories for all the money in the world. You remember being a junior and getting nervous because people looked up to you now: as an upperclassman, as a section leader, as a friend. And then you were a senior and you cried on the final day of band camp. You remember how your life became a series of lasts. You had to decide which of the freshmen would inherit your band cubby, your lucky bottle of valve oil, your bus seat. You went to graduation but it didn’t mean anything because you still had one last band trip coming up. You didn’t shed a tear when you tossed your cap but you cried like a child after your last parade. You remember on the plane ride home, you expected to feel devastated and heartbroken, but you just felt… empty.

You remember printing out what seemed like the most difficult solo in the world. You remember driving up to your college and entering a room with a chair and a stand and a couple of people giving you skeptical looks. You remember getting an email from the college marching band with your audition results and reading it with tears of joy in your eyes because you realized it was starting all over again.

But marching band doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t matter.

Tell me that it doesn’t matter. Tell me as many times as you want. You could scream it in my face and I still wouldn’t hear because the music we’re making is too damn loud to let anything else in. 

Tell me that it doesn’t matter when I’m standing on the field for the last time, knowing that everything behind me will last forever and that nothing will ever mean more to me than this… and all you’ve got is some money and a jersey with a number on the back.

Do not ever tell me that marching band isn’t important. It is everything to me, and it is everything to millions of other band geeks across the world.

When you refuse to support kids because they participate in the arts rather than athletics, you’re no better than the football player who takes lunch money from nerds.

To all of my fellow band geeks… keep marching, even if the world tells you it’s not worth it. It is. God, it is worth it, in ways no one else but you will ever understand. Continue your band career in college. Audition for a drum corps. Stay active in your high school band as an alumnus supporter. You are all my family. 

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ROCK ON

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Of course, some players may take that as a badge of honor…

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there’s the band kids who lose their social life when marching season starts

and

there’s the band kids who gain a social life when marching season starts