Mr. President,

So many reports of police brutality or police officers abusing their power have been investigated:

April 4th, 2015: Walter Scott was killed by an on-duty police officer named Michael Slager. September 20th, 2016: Brentley Vinson was accused of killing a man named Keith Scott without provocation. November 6th, 2016 A female police officer accused a police inspector named Keith Walton of sexually abusing her. All of these reports came from the New York Times, a reliable source of information. All these incidents could have been easily avoided by providing all police officers with body cameras and instructing them to wear them when they’re on duty.

“In bad neighborhoods, many people refuse to call the police when something bad happens, choosing instead to wait it out and hope for the best,” says Christopher Mele of the New York Times. “Police racism is not just a relic of history,” says Paul Butler, a former federal prosecutor. With body cameras recording everything a police officer says or does, the general behavior of cops might get better. Even if one police officer turns off their body camera, their partner will have theirs on.

The fear and hatred of those in blue that exists in poor neighborhoods causes more and more accusations of police brutality. “Out of 20 accusations of police brutality, only about 3 are taken seriously, and only about 9 are truthful,” says Wesley Lowery of the Washington Post. When this many people hate the police department and its officers, there tend to be more accusations of brutality. All this does is cause more hatred, and the cycle continues.

The police officers who are guilty of brutality rarely get caught on cameras. This makes them feel as though they can get away with anything. The result causes them to take out more and more anger on those who won’t, or can’t, call for help.

The problem is in your hands now, Mr. President. You can either let this cruel and unforgiving cycle continue, and end in the downfall of the police department, or you can stop the cycle once and for all. Providing all police officers with body cameras and directing them to wear them while on duty would inevitably prevent police brutality, and prove innocence in cases of false accusation. I leave it up to you. Keep our officers safe and honest.