Should Cops wear cameras?

After all the incidents and questions of innocence or guilt between Black Americans and cops I feel cops have to wear cameras.  Not to protect the people from the cops, but to protect the cops.

An audio/visual camera recording a cop constantly especially during an incident can mean all the difference in keeping a cop out of jail in these situations where onlookers can be confused or misinterpret what is going on between a cop and an individual they are interacting with.  But to do this, a 360 degree view is needed and really good microphones.  So we would be able to see what happened in the Ferguson shooting, or the shooting in Dallas from the cops’ point of view.  No longer will we question what a cop is saying or what the suspect is doing/saying as we will get a clearer picture of who and what cops are dealing with.  It even may help with investigators seeing things they may have missed and can also help in court cases with the claims of suspects and inmates who resist while being detained and the public having a conversation on uses of force by police.  Basically a camera and microphone covers all the bases with respect to covering the cops from being harmed in the public eye.

Police may even begin to announce what they are doing to clarify what is going on via these cameras so that people who do not know of police tactics or procedures can readily understand why cops do what they do.  Basically it will aid in clearing up misunderstandings.  Also, a 360 degree camera may aid in identifying witnesses and cameras in the back of police cars and on and in police vehicles will help with cases like with the death of Freddy Grey.  

Final Thought:  Cameras and microphones can give us a 360 degree view of the world around a police officer.  They can even identify where a particular sound is coming from and from whom via technology and with a heads up display can warn officers of approaching danger from behind.  We can protect our police and even eliminate the select minority of bad officers who abuse their power.  Let us end the confusion and the potential race war by giving our cops a tool to help protect themselves.