{"id":37717,"date":"2017-02-02T11:41:03","date_gmt":"2017-02-02T19:41:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=37717"},"modified":"2017-02-02T11:41:03","modified_gmt":"2017-02-02T19:41:03","slug":"body-cameras-coming-school-near-soon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/body-cameras-coming-school-near-soon\/","title":{"rendered":"Body cameras: coming to a school near you soon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bodycamera\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The use of body cameras by front line police and other uniformed enforcement agencies is increasing at an unstoppable rate both in the US and UK.<\/p>\n

In the UK, video cameras have been seen primarily as a way of supporting police officers to better enforce order or collect evidence. Whereas in the US, their use has been very much driven by the need to control police behaviour<\/a> \u2013 particularly in light of the high number of police shootings of young black men<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The first study in the UK<\/a> to evaluate the blanket roll out of cameras to all front line officers in a single jurisdiction was carried out on the Isle of Wight. And our research showed that public order and assault crimes went down by nearly 20% when all front line police officers wore the body cameras. It is not surprising then that police forces across the world, including in China, have made the decision to use these body worn video cameras.<\/p>\n

Other professions have also decided to follow suit, with body cameras already in use<\/a> in many schools across the US \u2013 and many more in talks with local law enforcement about how to introduce them<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the US, it tends to be that these cameras are worn by \u201cschool resource officers\u201d rather than teachers. These are sworn law enforcement officers \u2013 otherwise known as police officers \u2013 responsible for security and crime prevention<\/a> in US schools.<\/p>\n

Of course, not everyone is happy with the move, and The American Civil Liberties Union<\/a> has argued against the relatively recent trend. The union believes the presence of these enforcement officers in schools \u2013 many of whom have not been trained to work with children<\/a> \u2013 will lead to criminalisation of routine school disciplinary matters, and will enhance the \u201cschool-to-prison<\/a>\u201d pipeline. This is the idea that children are \u201cfunneled\u201d out of public state schools into the criminal justice system.<\/p>\n

Classroom cams<\/strong><\/p>\n

Consequently, it may surprise you to know that front line teachers in two schools in the UK are already using body cameras to deter bad behaviour in the classroom. Industry sources have also told me how they are working to develop and support body cameras for use in \u201cnon-enforcement\u201d environments, including schools.<\/p>\n

While body cameras have been in use outside UK classrooms for school crossing patrols<\/a> for a while, this move towards teachers wearing cameras in the classroom is a relatively recent development.<\/p>\n