Bodycams are the observers the Mayor of Amsterdam wants
The call for civilian observers of preventive searches for weapons is unnecessary from a moral and technical point of view.
It is clear that increasing violence, in Amsterdam and elsewhere, is due to youngsters carrying more weapons every year. This leads to more violent incidents and more deaths. In the past week three (fatal) incidents with guns and knives took place. The decision for preventive searching of people in the street has support from everybody. The suggestion that police officers need to be checked if they do this indiscriminately does and should not.
Instruments to protect against violent behaviour
In the Netherlands we have police officers who really serve the general public, safety and interest. We therefore need to provide them with any instrument possible to protect them against the unpredictable violent behaviour of some of the people they serve, so that they can continue to serve our society. Increasing tensions in society have an impact on police work, not the other way around. And to prove this point, the tension and violence is spreading even to civilian frontline professionals such as firemen, ambulances and deilvery personnel. They all deserve our respect and the help of technology to protect and support them.
Bodycams are existing observation devices
Bodycams have proven to reduce the number and intensity of violent incidents dramatically for police and other frontline professionals. This is due to the essence of recording video evidence that will stand up in court, to provide the truth of what really happened between frontline professional and citizen. In many cases bodycams show that the citizen videos on social media only show the police response and not the cause of that response. Bodycam recordings will therefore also show and prove that police officers will execute the legitimate searches for weapons indiscriminately. More objectively and efficiently than citizens can.
The police in Amsterdam already carry bodycams, so give them the trust they deserve to use these for the preventive searches the same way they already do for more dangerous situations.
Jurriaan Pröpper
CEO of ZEPCAM
