Spark

Police body cams, accountability and injustice

Exploring the impact of the use of body cams in law enforcement.
Washington DC Metropolitan Police Officer Debra Domino wears one of the new body-worn cameras that the city's officers will begin using during a press conference announcing the details of the program September 24, 2014. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Over the past few years, there has been an increased call for the use of body-worn cameras in law enforcement. But is there a danger in expecting the technology by itself to provide accountability?

Alex Rosenblat is a researcher and writer. She co-authored a recent paper about about body-worn cameras that also "highlights the unanswered questions about how body-worn camera programs may impact civil rights and civil liberties."

We also hear from Steven Penney, a law professor at the University of Alberta. He gives us a sense of how and where body cams are being used by police in Canada and whether body cams will ever become a standard part of everyday law enforcement in Canada.

We mentioned the Toronto Police Service's body-worn camera pilot project