Synthesis Paper

Hollenberger 1

Synthesis Paper
Sarah Hollenberger
NIU University
English 104
C. Sturgeon
2/14/15

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In the articles of NIU Today/Northern Star, Carroll, Pearce, Ready & Pearce, and Stoss
they all go over the debate over whether or not police cams should be used in patrols or amongst
the public. Each of the articles speaks in detail about the possible pros and cons that could arise
when the cams are in use by the police. Through reading the articles, one will be taken though
the different sides to the argument about having police fitted with cams.
In the article Cameras Eye: Police should wear body cameras to improve trust,
accountability, NIU sociologist contends by the NIU Newsroom goes in to depth about the
events that took place in Ferguson, MO on November 24 (para.1) along with a few other events
that involved the police which cause a national protest due to the lack of charges on the officers
involved. It further goes into how these events could have either been cleared up or prevented if
the officer had an on body video cam and how a video cam would be useful for the police in
other situations. Even now there are actions being taken such as President Obama asked
Congress to approve $263 million in funding that would help purchase 50,000 body cameras and
provide training. (para.6)
Overall the article is not biased with the use of cams in a neutral sense and did provide
sources via in text links to where it gathered its information and facts from. Even though it is
from an university newsfeed, the article did not provide the name of the author to the article. It is
understandable if the author was a student and the university wanted to provide anonymity for
said student, but this does leave the credentials of the author unknown as well. But it does give
the credentials of a chair member, Kirk Miller, of the NIU Department of Sociology (para.11)
to show that the author was wise enough to use a credible interviewer for the sake of their article.
Plus the articles target audience would be toward anyone who wouldnt know much on the

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subject, such as a student or anyone unaware about the possible use of police cams. The article is
current given the fact the events listed in the article are also very recent in news events.
In the article California Police Use of Body Cameras Cuts Violence and Complaints by
Rory Carroll goes over how having a cam on person affects how the officer acts and how the
public act as well. The article also goes over how much the problems they experience from the
public when working without a cam to with, such as their public complaints against officers
plunged 88% compared with the previous 12 months. Officers' use of force fell by 60%.
(para.8). Also it goes over how the video would be dealt with at the end of the day, either by
deleting if there was no valid information for an arrest or storing it for the sake of evidence for a
trail.
This article, like the last, does not have a conventional means of sourcing their
information and uses a lot of in text links. It is also biased positively toward the idea of giving
police body worn video cameras. Even though this article does have an author, he does not have
credentials on the matter of law and police force, Carroll is actually just a correspondent for The
Guardian (Carrol (The Guardian)). The article does provide a video at the very top of the
article of different examples of an in use cameras by officers on the job to go along to what the
article was about. As for the credibility of the publisher itself, there is not much other than right
under the websites title stating that it won the Pulitzer Prize. The target audience would be any
person that would be interested in learning about police cams and to possibly sway anybody
against the idea of a new requirement. There is also a comment in the article that has nothing to
do with the subject and only the location of the town Rialto. It goes into detail with in the San
Bernardino foothills outside Los Angeles, appeared in the films Transformers and The Hangover

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(para.4), which is an attempt to make an connection with the audience but just makes it go into a
unprofessional approach.
In the article Growing Use of Police Body Cameras Raises Privacy Concerns by Matt
Pearce goes over the few downsides of having police carry cameras with them while on patrol.
For example, potentially invading privacy and if the police are able to turn the cameras off for
special cases, for example in cases involving domestic violence or rape victims (para.4). The
article also brings up how the video feed could be somehow used for entertainment purposes, so
feeds appearing on YouTube or elsewhere like how some car cams feeds appear on shows and
whatnot, but with no support as to how that would happen in the first place.
The article itself does provide an infographic and a link to further reading to another
article but it does not actually provide any outside sources that would otherwise help its negative
bias, it may possibly be from a primary source such as interviews from Jay Stanley or from
Police Chief John Camper to name a few for people who have more credentials on the matter.
But Pearce himself is only a reporter for the LA Times and does not have much of a footing in
the subject (Pearce, Employee Profile). The article is structured well and is targeted to an
audience that would potentially sway their choice to police cams to not having cams. LA Times
is also just a newspaper that is set up in Los Angles, so it would be limiting to the residents of the
area as well. Through the article he makes it seem the cameras are minor annoyance for the
police to deal with, such as "Instead of the cameras being there to protect the officers, they get
disciplined for petty stuff constantly for violating the uniform code, or rolling through a stop
sign for an urgent call, or for not turning the camera on, - They're tired of the nitpicking, and
that's what the cameras have been used to do." (para.30) making Carrolls points on how willing

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they are a little void by a few officers opinion. But there is not much else to back that opinion
though, due to the lack of other sources on that bias.
In the article Three Myths About Police Body Cams by Justin Ready and Jacob Young
goes over myths about how police cam feeds could be interpreted, how the feed could be used,
and how body cams would affect the work of the police. To go into more detail, the article starts
off by how the footage could be seen in a multitude of ways from one person to the next, such as
from an officer to a lawyer and such. Or how the officer could somehow make the footage have a
different outcome or perspective by creating polarizing effect on some controversies because
people with strong convictions about what has transpired during a police shooting may use the
facts that they see in the video footage to support their expectations about what occurred in the
blind spots (para.7). Finally by how much they would interact with the public, which they do
according to the article, and how the officers could not get compassionate about certain cases
such as a case with abuse or with a victim of any other crime.
Otherwise this article does use in text citations like the articles by NIU Newsroom and
Carroll. It also proves a snippet of credentials at the bottom of the article for Ready, who is an
assistant professor of criminology at Arizona State University. His research focuses on the
impact of police technology on crime control (para.12), and Young who is an assistant professor
of criminology at Arizona State University. His research examines the diffusion of information in
networks.(para.13).The target audience would be anybody wanting to learn about the topic of
police cams and to sway them away from voting for it if there was a poll upon police cam use.
As for the publisher itself, it does not seem the greatest source to use because it almost looks like
an online newspaper similar to a blog. But most points they make could come off as opinionated

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and not actual fact, such as the entire myth about different perspectives could mean different
outcomes which is a good point but multiple view point could make or break a case.
In the article Wearing a Badge, and a Video Camera by Randall Stross brings up the
Rialto police force for the main focus of the article like Carroll did. So the article started off by
introducing the experiment that Rialto did with randomly selecting its officers to wear body
cameras to the same results as Carrolls sources. Also the point about officers complaining about
having to wear camera at all times is brought up in the article, like in Pearces, but is turned
around with the interviewed quote so instead of relying on somebody elses partial picture of
what occurred, why not have your own? he asked. In this way, you have the real one.
(para.5).
Overall, the article does greatly support the idea of having police being adorned with
body cams at all times. They also provide in text citations when needed, but there are also
interviewed quotes that are appropriately placed next to who said them. Though there are no
credentials for Stross to say if he has any prior knowledge on the subject and could only assume
that he is a reporter for the online newspaper because there is no further links to acquire this
information. Otherwise it is very well organized and does not stray from topic like how Carroll is
in one paragraph.
In the end the majority of the articles support the idea of police with body cams, are also
the articles that have sources and some kind of credibility to back up their work. As for the ones
against the idea, or propose possible flaws, also have their own strengths and weaknesses that
would provide enough information to make a well-rounded paper when paired with the articles
for the police body cams.

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References
Camera's Eye: Police should wear body cameras to improve trust, accountability, NIU sociologist
contends. (2014, December 16). Retrieved February 14, 2015, from
http://newsroom.niu.edu/2014/12/16/cameras-eye/

Carroll, R. (2013, November 4). California police use of body cameras cuts violence and
complaints. Retrieved February 14, 2015, from
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/04/california-police-body-cameras-cutsviolence-complaints-rialto

Carroll, R. (n.d.). (The Guardian's employee credentials). Retrieved February 23, 2015, from
http://www.theguardian.com/profile/rorycarroll

Pearce, M. (2014, September 27). Growing use of police body cameras raises privacy concerns.
Retrieved February 14, 2015, from http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-body-cameras20140927-story.html#page=1

Pearce, M. (n.d.). Employee Profile. Retrieved February 23, 2015, from

http://www.latimes.com/la-bio-matt-pearce-staff.html

Ready, J., & Young, J. (2014, September 2). Three Myths About Police Body Cams. Retrieved
February 14, 2015, from

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http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2014/09/ferguson_body_cams_my
ths_about_police_body_worn_recorders.html

Stross, R. (2013, April 6). Wearing a Badge, and a Video Camera. Retrieved February 14, 2015,
from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/business/wearable-video-cameras-for-policeofficers.html?_r=3&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1423238427-HdBUegSk5ip66jsm SIMiA&