A couple of days ago, there was a police shooting of an unarmed 19 year old black man in Baltimore County, Maryland. Given some recent incidents, it was easy to jump to the conclusion that this was yet one more incident of unjustified police brutality. But fortunately, the entire incident was captured on video by the security camera of a nearby business, and it reveals something entirely different.
What appears to have happened was a "suicide by cop." It reveals the police officer backing up with his gun drawn, and the victim advancing on him with one hand behind his back. And then, the victim suddenly whips his hand from behind his back and points it at the police officer, and the officer fires -- all in the space of about one second. It turns out that the victim had nothing in his hand, but I would defy anyone to bet their life on that being the case in the time the police officer had to make his shoot/don't shoot decision. And I can imagine no reason for the victim to act as he did other than actually wanting to be shot by the police officer.
Baltimore County has decided to implement a policy of body cameras on all police officers, but it won't be fully implemented until 2017. Fortunately for the everybody involved, this entire incident was captured on other video, and at least to me, it completely exonerates the police officer. But it amply demonstrates why body cams will not only deter rogue police officers, but why they will protect good police officers who are merely doing their jobs properly.
I don't know how to embed a video, but here is a link: