What is your opinion on body cameras for law enforcement officers? A few years ago, the public didn’t have enough evidence to form an opinion about the veracity for improving public relations through the use of a dash camera or body camera. Now, adding a camera to the uniform requirement for police officers looks promising.

The main enticement with police officers having a camera record their hours on duty is accountability. There is a sincere hope that a camera will reassure the public that each police officer will be held accountable for their actions. It reassures police officers that their appropriate actions will protect them from accusations of misconduct.

There is some evidence to support these hopes. The Pew Research Center researched the question in a recent survey of 8,000 police officers. The findings might paint a clearer picture of the situation.

About 93% of the participants felt increasing concern that their job as police officers was becoming more dangerous in recent years. Roughly 50% of the officers believed that a body cam would give fellow officers a strong reason to act appropriately, and in keeping within the strict standards of the job more often. In terms of interacting with the public, the police department administrators believed that the public would be more willing to cooperate with police officers who wore a camera.

In March 2015 it was estimated that 18,000 U.S. police departments were equipping their officers with body cameras. That number is higher now, but there are still setbacks to making the police body cam and the dashboard camera a national requirement.

A big deterrent is the cost, which means a police dash cam for sale is a hot commodity. A single camera can cost between $200 to upwards of $1,000. The international market for these type of cameras was less than $2 million in 2013. Needless to say, the market has grown considerably. The revenue for this market is forecasted to grow from 2014 to 2020 at a compound annual rate of 15.3%.

A police dash cam for sale is still quite an expense if an entire department needs to be outfitted. The evidence surrounding this equipment heavily implies that relations between police officers and the public could be improved. The assurance of accountability is a step in the right direction.