Eight hundred and two people were shot and killed by police so far this year according to the Washington Post. Seventy-nine of these shootings were recorded on police officers’ body cameras. A study conducted by the LAB @ DC in the District of Columbia’s Police Department that was published last week shows that the devices do not meet the expectations they were supposed to.

In 2014, body cams were implemented and imposed on some police departments in the country to implore police officers to refrain from crossing a lethal line, to make suspects behave better and to make citizens feel safer. Contrary to the expectations, the study shows that behaviors do not change when a camera is involved.

The assessment is not all negative. Body-worn cameras are still valuable because they might help to understand the circumstances of incidents. The pieces of the puzzle are put back together more easily if recorded evidence exists. It can, and has been used in courts or in investigation. It is not negligible.

If the technology were to spread across the country, it must be improved and meet higher standards. For example, because of previous incidents, it would probably be smarter to create cameras that go off by themselves instead of having police officers voluntarily turn them on.

Plus, the real questions need to be asked. It seems odd that the behaviors have not changed so far, even though both police officers and citizens knew they were being filmed. Once again, the problem might reside in gun control. Officers may feel less threatened and less inclined to think someone they pulled over or wearing a hoodie is dangerous if they did not assume they had a gun.

It is simple logic, that the less weapons there are in circulation, the less reasons for police officers to pull out their guns whenever they arrest someone, and thus, less deaths. In the long run, counting only on body-worn cameras to try preventing wrongful shots will not work. The study from the District of Columbia shows  that a technological device will not resolve the police and weapons-led problems that have existed in the U.S. for as long as everyone can remember.

This is obviously  not a new debate. Every few weeks, something terrible happens and some voices in the background try to catch everyone else’s attention on the issue. The voices fade away quickly until another gun is pulled out and another body catches a bullet. The circle keeps spinning.

Some might think it is tiresome to talk about gun control every time a semblance of opportunity comes up. Neither police shootings nor Las Vegas-like massacres seem to shake America enough to act; and that is exhausting.

Photo: West Midlands Police via flickr