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An article from a company that makes the police body camera.

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Police on Video: When the Camera Turns

Since 2014, videos of incidents between white police officers and minorities have prompted changes in procedures. Here is a look at those videos, which include graphic scenes of violence.

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Since 2014, videos of incidents between white police officers and minorities have prompted changes in procedures. Here is a look at those videos, which include graphic scenes of violence. Credit Credit... From Left: Hamilton County Prosecutor, YouTube/Brandon Brooks, YouTube/Texas Department of Public Safety

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Ray Tensing was fired as a University of Cincinnati police officer and charged, while two others were placed on leave after video contradicted their account of an encounter with a black man. Credit... John Minchillo/Associated Press

Some polling bolsters such concerns. In a Gallup national survey conducted in June, 52 percent of people said they had "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in the police, down from 57 percent two years earlier, and 64 percent in 2004. In 2007, 37 percent of Americans had high confidence that their local police would treat blacks and whites equally, the Pew Research Center found, but last year that was down to 30 percent.

Such was the case with fatal police shootings in North Charleston and Cincinnati, and with the arrest in Baltimore of Freddie Gray, who died of injuries he sustained while in police custody. In all three cases, prosecutors brought rare murder charges against officers within days - remarkable speed for a process that in the past could take weeks or months. Those swift actions have been applauded by many African-Americans.

Mr. Tensing later made bail and was released.

There are no definitive figures, but officials say that most police forces do not use body cameras, or use them on a very limited basis. But according to a 2013 survey by the Police Executive Research Forum, a research group, about one in four of its member forces regularly used body cameras. And the number is rising quickly as the federal government provides grants for cameras, said Lindsay Miller, a senior research associate at the group.

San Diego has equipped hundreds of its police officers with cameras and is expanding that program, and Los Angeles recently decided to put cameras on all of its patrol officers but has not yet done so. New York, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia and other cities have trial programs.

Recent studies showed that when officers in Rialto, Calif., and in Mesa, Ariz., wore body cameras, complaints against the police fell sharply. But body camera advocates and skeptics alike say they do not know how much that reflects a real decline in police misconduct, and how much was a drop in spurious civilian complaints; it may be that both groups behave better when they are on camera.

The proliferation of video has coincided with a paradox: Public views of the police have grown worse, yet experts say police use of force has probably been lower in the last few years than in generations. (There is, however, no precise accounting of the number of people killed by police officers each year.)

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Glare of Video Is Shifting Public's View of Police

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Some polling bolsters such concerns. In a Gallup national survey conducted in June, 52 percent of people said they had "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in the police, down from 57 percent two years earlier, and 64 percent in 2004.

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According to The School of New York TImes, Richard Pérez-Peña attended Ponoma College. He has been a breaking news reporter for the National Desk of The New York TImes since early 2015, covering events like mass killings, political disputes, and dozens of cases of shooting committed by or against police officers. This means he is a perfect for the job of writing about how cameras benefit the community.

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file:///C:/Users/Owner/AppData/Local/Temp/TheLabDC_MPD_BWC_Working_Paper_10.20.17-1.pdf

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Being a reporter for New York Times, Richard is in a position that allows access to reliable information. Richard wasn't there at the time of these tragedies, but he has seen the videos of these events.

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In this video I discuss the vested interest.

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Richard has specialized on the topic as he has reported on it several times. It isn't said that he is an expert in the field but he has tons of experience with the topic of police brutality.

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In this video I explain the authors stand point.

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According to the University of Michigan’s Ford School, Anita Ravishankar is a PhD student in World Politics and Public Policy. While Ravishankar is attending a well-know and trusted university and getting a high degree, she is still considered to have less experience. This means that she may be a trustworthy source, however it would still be better to find a source with more experience and credibility.

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Ravishankar is not able to view the costs of implementing body cameras for police officers. Instead, she takes the average price a body-worn camera (BWC) and then multiplies by an "average sized" police force of 2,224 officers. While this may seem like a sound idea it ultimately leaves too much variability as not all precincts use the same camera brand/model and not all precincts have the same number of officers.

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Ravishankar shows no signs of having a bias or vested interest of any kind. She simply just states things how they are and provides evidence for how and/or why.

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While Ravishankar's field of study is not economic specifically, she has experience researching the costs of certain political policies and forms of technology such as BWCs. Ravishankar likely would not be considered an expert on the topic.

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Ravishankar remains neutral throughout the source and uses language that does not clearly make one side seem more favored than the other. Her sources also do not show signs of being biased on the subject.