In the wake of the recent grand jury decisions in Ferguson and New York City deciding not to indict two different white police officers each involved in the deaths of an African American, there have been many different ideas about how to ease the tension and restore trust between citizens and police forces across the nation.

One of the most prominent of these ideas is requiring a camera on police uniforms. These cameras would be located on either the helmet or vest area of the officer’s uniform. Although there are many different opinions being thrown around social media about these cameras, one of the main reasons behind the move toward requiring body cameras is the ability to hold police accountable while also having information to make trials smoother, faster, and resulting in true truth and justice.

These movement toward requiring body cameras has been quickly gaining traction across the nation, and Portland has recently made an announcement stating their intention to install body cameras throughout the city.

In the near future, all 600 Portland officers will be required to wear them; however, this new camera has a conflict with one of Oregon’s previous laws. This law states that citizens must be told when they are being recorded, but this law was revised so that if an officer is in uniform or their badge is in sight then it is not necessary to tell the person being recorded unless a good opportunity to tell them comes up.

President Obama also recently made a speech in which he said that he is in support of the cause and that he would work to allocate funds for up to 50,000 new body cameras to be used in the US.

In fact, several cities such as New York, Albuquerque, and Phoenix have already instituted this for at least some of their officers.

Although these cameras are already being used in some areas, there are many concerns about the use of body cameras by police. For instance, some people are nervous that there will be a lack of privacy as a result, while others argue that officers might simply begin turning off their cameras in certain circumstances that they do not want recorded.

Although there are downsides to this, many people are in favor of the cameras as well. Some say that it simply makes logical sense since the dashboard cameras installed in police cars have been such a success. Psychological research has also shown that people act better when they are being videotaped, so hopefully this would help both the police and the people in which the police interact to act in a better way.

President Obama also says that body cameras would have greatly helped in the cases of both Mike Brown and Eric Garner, as well as, in general, helping the relationship between police forces and the citizens.

Although not all police forces are wearing these cameras yet, a final decision is hoped to be made soon by each city individually which will hopefully benefit everyone.