I think more police officers should be wearing body cameras. I also believe that the documentary camera should have a place in the continuing education of teachers.
After the events surrounding the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile the country re-hashed the narrative of cop as villain. After the events surrounding the deaths of police officers in Dallas last weekend, the country re-hashed the narrative of cop as hero.
Both of these narratives are devoid of context and nuance, and both keep us from true understanding.
However, the video that helped to document the death of Mr. Castile showed us the scenario in real-time. Beyond helping with any legal proceedings against the officer, could this video be used for future trainings? Yes, I believe it could be. Specifically, exactly how not to react in this type of situation.
I’ve watched since becoming a teacher as both law enforcement officers and educators are called out as either heroes and villains, and I find both stories unsatisfactory.
As Redditt Hudson has written for Vox, the answer lies somewhere in between: for example, he speaks about how–in his view–a police force is made up of some entrenched disgruntled officers and some ramrod-straight moral officers, surrounded by a vast majority who can be swayed in different directions.
Hudson also thinks that cops benefit from cameras because it makes them think more carefully about their jobs. That camera makes them hold each other accountable; that camera hopefully helps them become better officers. I think the same can be true for teachers.
I can only imagine that it’s scary being a cop: being alone and not knowing how to react in a given situation; the same can be true of teaching, though with less potentially lethal consequences.
I’d probably be fine working with a camera inside my classroom, but only if the goal would be to help me become a better teacher. If it were only used to catch a student with their phone out (or me, for that matter), or to punish me for not punishing that student, then I’d want no part in it. I’d want the same to be true for police officers.
I’d like to review that tape in order to learn from it. Every pre-service teacher has to film and review their own teaching at least once, sometimes alone and sometimes with their peers or more experienced mentors. But this practice almost always falls away after the first year. I’d like it to continue.
How could we make both professions–law enforcement and education–more like the medical field, where we do “peer reviews”, asking each other what went well in this scenario, and what could have been done better? If the camera was used for that purpose—just as I believe it should be used by police officers—then I’d be all about it, to borrow a phrase from my students. The awkwardness of feeling like I was being “watched” would fade over time; it would become a non-issue.
This means changing the structure of a teacher’s day and our working conditions. You can’t just add this extra time-burden without limiting another facet of our days. So maybe it’s the same with cops? Should police training (and continuing education) be more about reviewing video of de-escalations and successful relationship-building, and less about weapons?