--- title: Police Brutality: Body Cameras Help Citizens and Police description: The Jordan Edwards shooting showed how body cameras can reveal police abuse. But video can also show officers following the law canonical: https://time.com/4771417/jordan-edwards-body-cameras-police/ author: Maya Wiley article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-09T18:08:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:48:51.250Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Body Cameras Help Everyone — Including the Police og:description: Video technology is shaping officer and citizen oversight og:url: https://time.com/4771417/jordan-edwards-body-cameras-police/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e24aeecbf036f29/6988cc7c0b72e342fa6edb35/gettyimages-609502558-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3200 og:image:height: 1800 og:image:alt: Press Conference On Off-Duty BPD Officer Incident og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Body Cameras Help Everyone — Including the Police twitter:description: Video technology is shaping officer and citizen oversight twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e24aeecbf036f29/6988cc7c0b72e342fa6edb35/gettyimages-609502558-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Body Cameras Help Everyone — Including the Police > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Maya Wiley](https://time.com/author/maya-wiley-esq/) ## Maya Wiley May 9, 2017 6:08 PM UTC  Boston Police Superintendent in Chief William Gross wears a body camera during a press conference at Police Headquarters in Boston on Sept. 20, 2016. Boston Police Superintendent in Chief William Gross wears a body camera during a press conference at Police Headquarters in Boston on Sept. 20, 2016. Jessica Rinaldi—Boston Globe via Getty Images by [Maya Wiley](https://time.com/author/maya-wiley-esq/) ## Maya Wiley May 9, 2017 6:08 PM UTC In Balch Springs, Texas, where a [police officer](http://time.com/4765283/roy-oliver-jordan-edwards-balch-springs-texas/) recently shot and killed 15-year-old [Jordan Edwards](http://time.com/4764484/jordan-edwards-balch-springs-dallas-roy-oliver-fired/) as the teenager’s car was driving away. The police department had [video](http://time.com/4769717/jordan-edwards-roy-oliver-balch-springs/) that showed what happened was inconsistent with the officer’s initial statement, thanks to the body-worn camera on the officer. Three days after Jordan was killed, the officer who shot him was fired and now faces murder charges. As the investigation continues, one thing is absolutely clear — video technology is shaping our world, particularly in the context of police oversight. Technology is neither good nor bad. It’s what we make it. Last month, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) expanded its [body-worn camera](http://time.com/3843157/the-problem-with-police-body-cameras/) pilot program for patrol officers. As the program sparks healthy debate throughout the City and the country, I believe there is both a challenge and an opportunity in using this new technology — with privacy and justice as shared priorities. Concerns about how data will be collected, held, used and shared are legitimate. Yet body-worn camera footage — just like bystander and surveillance video — can be a tool for police accountability _and_ for supporting officers who behave lawfully. The NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), reviews almost 5,000 cases of alleged police misconduct every year. Investigators review many types of evidence, including video recordings from diverse sources like surveillance cameras, cell phones from witnesses and, in rare case, body-worn cameras. Video footage provides investigators objective details of incidents. The CCRB recently analyzed allegations of misconduct in New York City over the last five years, and it found that these recordings help the CCRB make more determinations in allegations of police misconduct than in those without video. Currently, much of this footage is from civilians and CCTV. The CCRB considers an allegation determined “on its merits” if there is sufficient credible evidence to determine what happened. That could mean we “substantiate” the allegation (it happened and was misconduct), find that it didn’t happen or find that it happened, but the officer behaved lawfully. Thanks to video footage, CCRB has been able to substantially increase the cases we resolve. Last year, the CCRB closed 57% of allegations with video evidence on the merits compared to 45% of allegations without video. In 2015, those numbers were 56% and 41%, respectively. In 2014, the agency closed 53% of allegations with video on the merits” compared to 39% without video that year. Often, a civilian and a police officer will have different accounts of what happened. A video can tip the balance where we have to show that the evidence supports one version over another. This independent verification benefits all parties. Over the last five years, on average, the CCRB was able to substantiate police misconduct with video at twice the rate of misconduct without video — 18.6% compared to 9.3%. Video may not be definitive in every allegation within every complaint, but it can help significantly. Body-worn cameras provide investigators with another source of evidence so we can better understand an incident and make an appropriate determination. Civil rights groups are right to stay vigilant about footage being recorded, stored and utilized in a manner that respects the privacy of minors, victims of sexual assault and any person who may be recorded initially as a subject in an incident but isn’t ultimately determined to have a role in a crime. Some communities — particularly communities of color — have legitimate concerns about being overly surveilled. And advocates also call attention to questions of access to body-worn camera footage between police officers and defendants. CCRB will monitor this issue and ensure officers aren’t abusing access to video to tailor their statements, interviews, and reports to the footage. The NYPD lacks comprehensive guidance for when an officer activates and deactivates their recording device, and for clear exemptions for use while on patrol. As the pilot continues, the NYPD must develop an inclusive process with stakeholders like the CCRB, civil rights groups, and advocates, to ensure our city has rigorous and well-informed body-worn camera policies. But video helps curb misconduct by officers and civilians alike. It helps determine what may have happened in police misconduct cases. Because of this, investigators at the CCRB must have direct access to view relevant footage to aid in investigations of misconduct. This is a standard among some police departments, including Washington D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department. If implemented, it would allow the CCRB to hasten investigations, which is good for all involved in allegations of misconduct. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4771417/jordan-edwards-body-cameras-police/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4771417/jordan-edwards-body-cameras-police/"},"headline":"Body Cameras Help Everyone — Including the Police","datePublished":"2017-05-09T18:08:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:48:51.250Z","description":"Video technology is shaping officer and citizen oversight","url":"https://time.com/4771417/jordan-edwards-body-cameras-police/","keywords":["police","society"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e24aeecbf036f29/6988cc7c0b72e342fa6edb35/gettyimages-609502558-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Wiley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-wiley-esq/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e24aeecbf036f29/6988cc7c0b72e342fa6edb35/gettyimages-609502558-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Press Conference On Off-Duty BPD Officer Incident","caption":"Press Conference On Off-Duty BPD Officer Incident","creditText":"Jessica Rinaldi—Boston Globe via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/police/","name":"police"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4771417/jordan-edwards-body-cameras-police/","name":"Body Cameras Help Everyone — Including the Police"}}]}] ```