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Representations of Policing Problems and Body-Worn Cameras in Existing Research
Abstract
In this article, we analyze scholarly publications on body-worn cameras (BWCs) to shed light on scholars’ grounding assumptions about BWC technology and the policing problems assumed to be amended by it. We conducted a systematic search and a double-blind review, including 90 peer-reviewed journal articles, and analyzed how scholars warrant their studies, their findings and their recommendations. We found that BWC research largely investigates the effectiveness of BWCs worn by police officers in the United States and build upon a set of dominant policing problem representations: the police crisis in the United States and the police use of force, lack of oversight and control of police officers, citizen dissatisfaction and lack of police legitimacy, and police officer resistance toward BWC use. Assumptions underlying all four problem representations is that BWC technology will amend these problems and is legitimate and useful if the public supports it. Taken together, this enhances the representation of BWC technology as a self-evident means of improving community relations and police legitimacy in the United States. Finally, we provide recommendations for future research on BWCs, particularly the need for research departing from altogether different problem representations.
... It is crucial, though, to differentiate between genuine reluctance and a more nuanced ambivalence towards workplace surveillance technologies. The hesitancy of officers to accept new forms of surveillance is rooted in experiences that have been either overlooked or misinterpreted in scholarly work, as the push for greater control often overshadows considerations of fairness (Backman & Löfstrand, 2021). ...
... Body-worn cameras (BWCs) have been adopted across the USA as a 'self-evident' (Backman and Löfstrand, 2021) means of enhancing police-community relationships (President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing, 2015). In 2016, figures showed that 47% of law enforcement agencies had acquired BWCs, with 60% of them fully deployed (Hyland, 2018). ...
This study mined officers’ perspectives on whether body-worn cameras (BWCs) could change the behaviour of citizens and police. Officers reinforced themes from prior studies on the professionalizing effect of BWCs, the potential for passivity, and the concern with ‘second-guessing’. Officers also stressed the theme of ‘it depends’, where behaviour change is contingent on the citizen, the situation, and the officer. Findings resonated with the concept of police encounters as two-way social interactions and related insights from regulation scholarship on ‘motivational posturing’. Results underscore the need for more observational studies (including ethnographies and systematic social observations) that identify the variety of encounters and settings where BWC activation might alter behavioural norms and encounter dynamics. Relatedly, BWC footage could be mined to inform reviews of everyday police work that identify the unique ways in which BWC activation could be leveraged to change behaviour in a variety of situations with different posturing dynamics. Policymakers should emphasize the complexity of the implementation environments surrounding the uptake of BWCs and other technology, with a view to encouraging research that measures the many dimensions of officers’ perceptions. Understanding the place and role of BWCs within the contexts of officers’ holistic experiences should help policymakers understand both the limits and potential of cameras to change everyday policing.
Body-worn cameras (BWCs) are a permanent, though not well understood, feature of modern US policing. As a technological solution to the perception that officers use force too often, BWCs have not fared well. This dissertation sidesteps questions of effectiveness, however, and instead investigates how the cameras are perceived by officers, and how variations in BWC policies affect perceptions of monitoring fairness. To do so, I use a national probability sample of officers (n = 529) drawn from a stratified sample of agencies across the United States.
Theoretically, I draw primarily from two literatures. First, from the organizational
psychology literature, which is where the vast majority of research on the individual-level effects of electronic workplace surveillance has been done. Second, I draw on the organizational justice literature, specifically elements related to how criminal justice employees form judgements of fairness regarding their workplace treatment. The results show how policy variation in BWC activation and footage review affect officer perceptions of fairness both on their own and interactively.
Purpose
The authors set out to show how key private security industry actors in Sweden establish body-worn cameras (BWCs) as a tool to protect private security officers from the public the officers police and to improve the work environment of the officers.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted qualitative semi-structured interviews with key personnel involved in the implementation of BWCs. The authors' analysis focused on delineating recurrent moral stories and affirmative environments to show how BWC use was made legitimate as a work environment tool.
Findings
The authors show how BWC use by private security officers patrolling public spaces in Sweden is legitimized by four organizational narratives: (1) the vulnerable security officer and the caring employer, (2) defenders of protective regulation, (3) moral selves and morally dubious others and (4) function creep and moral guardians. The authors explain how such organizational narratives are key to establishing and legitimizing the use of BWCs as a tool to improve the work environment of private security guards, and how certain narrative environments promote such organizational narratives in Sweden to improve the work environment of private security guards.
Originality/value
The authors' findings in this article add to a small but growing literature on BWC use in policing outside of the USA and the UK as well as to the hitherto very limited research from the work environment and managerial perspectives. The authors illustrate the importance of organizational narratives and narrative environments for understanding organizational change involving legitimation of new technologies.
Due to the increasing of traffic and the introduction of new technologies, the way to perform tasks by modern traffic police have been changed. However, few studies have systematically analyzed the tasks of modern traffic police, a major force in enhancing the efficiency and safety of the transportation network. Based on Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA), this study investigated the major tasks of front-line traffic policemen in China with a focus on how new technology are implemented. Overall, the results suggested that 135 Fast response to incidents, Drunk driving inspection, Routine patrol and road guidance, serious accident disposal, and AVI checkpoint interception are the key tasks, while body-worn cameras, police terminals and hand-held radios are the main intelligent equipment for policing. This HTA provided insight into key traffic police work-flows and laid the foundation for improving the traffic policemen performance, as well as producing and developing more effective smart equipment for police use.KeywordsHierarchical task analysisTraffic policemenPolicing equipmentIntelligent equipment
The efficiency and convenience of gesture shortcuts have an important influence on user experience. However, it is unknown how the number of permitted swiping angles and their allowable range affect users’ performance and experience. In the present study, young and old users executed swiping in multiple directions on smartphones. Results showed that multiple allowable angles resulted in slower swiping speed and poorer user experience than the single allowable angle condition. However, as the number of allowable angles increased, only old users showed a significant decrease in swiping accuracy. Vertical-up and upper-right swiping were faster than swiping in the horizontal directions. Furthermore, narrower operable range of swiping only reduced swiping accuracy in the tilted direction. Though old users performed worse on swiping than younger users, their subjective ratings were more positive than younger users’. Suggestions on how to design swiping gestures on the human-mobile interface were discussed.KeywordsGesture shortcutsSwipe gesturesSwipe angleAge differenceUser experience
This paper examines results from two waves of officer surveys, administered before and after deployment of body-worn cameras (BWCs) in two divisions within the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). Officer surveys were administered in LAPD’s Mission and Newton divisions at two time points, pre-BWC deployment (August and September 2015; Wave I) and post-deployment (summer of 2016; Wave II). This fixed-sample survey contained 52 questions designed to measure officer perceptions of BWCs across a variety of domains. Questions were tailored to provide consistency across sites for comparison with other studies. Results varied by division, with Mission officers becoming more critical and Newton officers becoming slightly more supportive of BWCs over time. Similarities and differences in officer perceptions both between divisions and from pre- to post-deployment are discussed at length, as are the implications for policy and practice including obtaining organizational support and officer buy-in.
Police use of body‐worn cameras (BWCs) is increasingly common in the USA. This article reports the results of one of the first experimental examinations of the effects of three BWC status conditions (absent, transcribed, viewed) and eyewitness race (Black, White) on mock jurors' case judgments, in a case in which a community member (defendant) was charged with resisting arrest but where the officer's use of force in conducting the arrest was controversial. Results provide evidence of significant main effects of both eyewitness race and BWC status. When the eyewitness supporting the defendant was White, mock jurors were less likely to vote the defendant guilty of resisting arrest, as well as more likely to consider the defendant credible and the officer culpable for the incident. In addition, when BWC footage of the arrest was viewed, compared with transcribed or absent, participants were less likely to vote the defendant guilty of resisting arrest, and also rated the officer's use of force less justifiable, and the officer more culpable and less credible. Follow‐up analyses demonstrated that these relationships between BWC condition and case judgments were all mediated by moral outrage toward the officer.
Now more than ever, body cameras, surveillance footage, dash-cam footage, and bystanders with phones enable people to see for themselves officer and civilian behavior and determine the justifiability of officers' actions. This paper examines whether the camera perspective by which people watch police encounters influences the conclusions that people draw. Consistent with recent findings showing that body camera footage leads people to perceive officers' actions as less intentional (Turner et al., 2019), our first Study demonstrated that participants who watched body-camera footage, compared to people who watched surveillance footage of the same encounter, perceived the officer’s behavior as being more justified and made more lenient punishment decisions. In our second Study, only one of the four police encounters that participants watched led participants to perceive the officer more favorably when they watched body-camera footage compared to bystander footage. Our results demonstrate that some body-camera footage—specifically videos that capture an officer using his or her body to apprehend a civilian—can lead to biased perceptions of police encounters that benefit the officer. Our findings suggest that this occurs because a) in body camera footage, the civilian is the more easily visible figure, thus making less salient the officer’s role in the encounter and b) the body camera—attached to an officer’s uniform—is unable to adequately capture certain use of force movements that are important in determining an officer’s intent.
Objectives
Examine changes in officer behavior, when wearing body-worn cameras, as revealed by pedestrian stops, vehicle stops, arrests, use of force, and citizen complaints during a pilot implementation in a racially diverse jurisdiction in the Northeast region of the USA.
Methods
A quasi-experimental approach was used to examine the initial implementation of body-worn cameras (BWCs) in one district. This provided the opportunity for a natural experiment comparing officers in the district that deployed cameras with officers in three similar districts where no BWCs were deployed. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to match BWC officers with non-BWC officers.
Results
BWC officers had about 38.3% fewer use of force incidents than non-BWC officers with similar numbers of use of force incidents in the previous year. On average, BWC officers made 46.4% fewer pedestrian stops and 39.2% fewer arrests than non-BWC officers. Vehicle stops and citizen complaints had nonsignificant declines for BWC officers.
Conclusions
The reductions in proactive policing by officers are consistent with a deterrence-based view that officers respond to the increased scrutiny by curtailing interactions with citizens, which in turn, limits the potential for conflict and for police supervisors to identify behavior worthy of disciplinary action. The lack of a significant reduction in citizen complaints supports the view that the effect of BWCs on negative officer behavior is contingent upon other factors in the settings in which cameras are deployed. Future research should examine the impacts of cameras on the narrowing of police discretion because of the important implications for police–community relations.
Objectives
Examine how the amount and makeup of police-initiated activities changed after the introduction of body-worn cameras (BWCs).
Methods
From May 21 to November 22, 2016, patrol officers and sergeants from the Milwaukee Police Department were involved in a randomized controlled trial. Through a stratified random sampling procedure, half the officers (n = 252) were assigned BWCs, while officers from the control group (n = 252) continued business as usual. The counts of proactive activities, which included a total count of self-initiated events, as well as traffic stops, business checks, subject stops, and park and walks, were examined using random-effects negative binominal panel regression analyses. The models included a unique measure of contamination to assess its impact on officers’ proactivity.
Results
BWCs had no impact on the total amount of officer-initiated activities, traffic stops, or business checks. Officers with BWCs conducted approximately 8% fewer subject stops and 23% more park and walks than those in the control group. In all models, contamination levels were significantly, positively associated with the number of proactive activities that were conducted; however, the size of this effect was very small.
Conclusions
Results suggest that BWC-wearing officers may be less likely to engage in proactive activities that are highly discretionary and that could potentially lead to confrontations with community members. As departments continue to develop BWC programs or fine-tune their existing BWC policies, more research is needed to understand the degree to which BWCs affect officers’ behaviors and interactions with the public.
Objectives
Existing research on the effects of body-worn cameras (BWCs) have found largely consistent results regarding direct significant reductions in citizen complaints and often also report reductions in use of force reports. However, few studies have examined possible spillover effects onto untreated officers. This study explicitly tests for direct and spillover effects of BWCs on the civility of police-citizen encounters and police work activities.
Methods
This study assesses the direct effects of BWCs on citizen complaints, police use of force, and police proactivity and discretion during a 1-year randomized controlled trial in the Boston Police Department. Through a simultaneous quasi-experimental design, this study also investigates whether BWC deployment results in spillover effects onto control officers in treated districts as compared to comparison officers in untreated districts.
Results
Findings indicate that the use of BWCs reduces citizen complaints and police use of force but has no appreciable impact on officer activity or discretion. Furthermore, results indicate significant spillover reductions in citizen complaints for control officers in treated districts.
Conclusions
The results of this study suggest that a limited BWC adoption may generate spillover deterrent impacts as officers and citizens perceive an increased threat that inappropriate and illegal behaviors will be captured on video even when BWCs are not actually present during an encounter. Partial BWC implementation seems like a cost-effective alternative to full implementation. However, police executives and policy makers need to think carefully about possible negative externalities generated by uneven BWC coverage.
Body-worn cameras (BWCs) have been implemented and studied at an unprecedented rate since their emergence in the mid-2000s, largely due to their touted benefits of increasing police accountability. As current empirical research is largely inconclusive regarding BWC effects on police organizational change, the present study approaches the question of whether BWCs will fundamentally change occupational and organizational police culture by applying the theories of Manning and Chan’s interpretation of Bourdieu regarding police culture and technology. The findings of the theoretical application conclude that BWCs will likely become replicative technology, meaning that their primary effects will be to increase the efficiency of current police tactics, rather than change the fundamental practices and values of policing. BWCs may also become symbolic in that their use may represent increased accountability and legitimacy while the core of police culture remains largely unchanged. Due to the limits of technology in achieving greater police accountability, police practitioners and scholars are encouraged to refocus on the fundamental processes of recruiting, selection, hiring, and training, and ways to improve these practices to encourage a culture of greater accountability.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore factors that drive officer support for body-worn cameras (BWCs).
Design/methodology/approach
Results of an officer perceptions survey completed as part of an evaluation of the Chicago Police Department’s BWC project are presented. The influence of treatment- and outcome-oriented justice concerns on officer support for BWCs is explored with a variety of covariates.
Findings
Outcome-oriented concerns are a significant predictor of officer support for BWCs, while treatment-oriented concerns are not.
Practical implications
The research enhances understandings of the applicability of procedural justice theorizing in policing generally, and offers direction important to the meaningful use of BWCs.
Originality/value
This finding runs counter to dominant relational models of procedural justice that concentrate on the perspective of subordinates, but lends support to arguments advocating the centrality of role (authority vs subordinate) in the formation of justice evaluations.
Based on a large national sample of U.S. adults, the current study examines the nature and correlates of public support for body-worn cameras (BWCs) in various policing activities. Multivariate analyses were performed to assess the direct and moderating effects of individuals’ socioeconomic characteristics, general police attitudes and experiences, and specific beliefs about benefits of BWCs on the level of public support for this technology. Strong public support for BWC usage is found across different areas of police work. However, substantial contextual variability in this support is also evident when the analysis focused on the conjunctive influences of individuals’ level of confidence in social institutions, personal involvement in these institutions, and beliefs about police legitimacy and their effectiveness. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for future research on the sources of public receptivity, resistance, and change in these attitudes about BWCs over time.
This study assessed the early deployment of the Anaheim Police Department’s body-worn camera (BWC) program in 2015 by examining camera activations across officers, trends in activations over time, and how different police–community contacts predict BWC activations. These were assessed with correlational analyses among 40 BWC-equipped officers in the first 6 months of their use. Activation of the BWCs among officers varied widely, with 6-month average activations ranging from 0% to 72%. Average activation rates increased over time from 3% to 54%. Officers disproportionately activated their cameras for events related to crimes; for example, activation rates for other categories were significantly lower compared to violent crimes, with odds ratios ranging from 0.148 to 0.663. The article concludes with a discussion on how the failure to activate a BWC limits the potential benefits of the technology. While officers have considerable discretion on when to activate their BWCs, law enforcement agencies must not only train and deploy BWCs among their officers but also audit and supervise individual use to ensure successful BWC programs.
Objectives
The current research adds to the literature addressing police body-worn cameras (BWCs) by experimentally evaluating their effect on an interaction that has, to date, received relatively little systematic, empirical attention: police–eyewitness interactions. Although research suggests that BWCs generally have positive effects, legal scholars and media professionals have long argued that deploying cameras in this context may backfire, especially by chilling public willingness to speak with police.
Method
The current study utilized an online national convenience sample (N = 508) to test the effect of four factors that were varied across seven mock interview video conditions on participants’ willingness to cooperate, the amount of information provided, accuracy and confidence in an eyewitness identification task, and perceptions like procedural fairness and trust. We hypothesized that the presence and activation of the camera would have positive effects on the interaction.
Results
Regarding the factors, the manipulated presence of a recording camera had the most consistent positive impact. Whether the camera was present, and the participant’s awareness of the camera and the fact that it was recording were also tested, but these comparisons were less likely to reach statistical significance. Regarding the conditions, the best outcomes were associated with officers who turned on the camera and did not explain why. Conversely, the worst outcomes were associated with officers who turned off the cameras without explanation.
Conclusions
Our results suggest that the positive effects of BWCs may extend to police–eyewitness interactions and reveal no evidence of a chilling effect on eyewitness-relevant outcomes.
Research Summary
In this article, we provide the most comprehensive narrative review to date of the research evidence base for body‐worn cameras (BWCs). Seventy empirical studies of BWCs were examined covering the impact of cameras on officer behavior, officer perceptions, citizen behavior, citizen perceptions, police investigations, and police organizations. Although officers and citizens are generally supportive of BWC use, BWCs have not had statistically significant or consistent effects on most measures of officer and citizen behavior or citizens’ views of police. Expectations and concerns surrounding BWCs among police leaders and citizens have not yet been realized by and large in the ways anticipated by each. Additionally, despite the large growth in BWC research, there continues to be a lacuna of knowledge on the impact that BWCs have on police organizations and police–citizen relationships more generally.
Policy Implications
Regardless of the evidence‐base, BWCs have already rapidly diffused into law enforcement, and many agencies will continue to adopt them. Policy implications from available evidence are not clear‐cut, but most likely BWCs will not be an easy panacea for improving police performance, accountability, and relationships with citizens. To maximize the positive impacts of BWCs, police and researchers will need to give more attention to the ways and contexts (organizational and community) in which BWCs are most beneficial or harmful. They will also need to address how BWCs can be used in police training, management, and internal investigations to achieve more fundamental organizational changes with the long‐term potential to improve police performance, accountability, and legitimacy in the community.
In this article, we explore variations in procedural justice delivered in face‐to‐face encounters with citizens before and after the implementation of body‐worn cameras (BWCs). We draw on recent advances in the measurement of procedural justice using systematic social observation of police in field settings in the Los Angeles Police Department. Data collected on 555 police–citizen encounters are examined in bivariate and multivariate models exploring the primary hypothesis that BWCs affect procedural justice delivered by police directly and indirectly. Our results indicate that significant increases in procedural justice during police–citizen encounters were directly attributable to the effect of BWCs on police behavior as well as to the indirect effects on citizen disrespect and other variables. The implications for policy include explicit measurement and monitoring of procedural justice or elements such as officer discourtesy in departments adopting BWCs. Further research questions such as more detailed examination of citizens’ behavior changes under BWCs are also considered in the context of the findings.
Police departments use body-worn cameras (body cams) and dashboard cameras (dash cams) to monitor the activity of police officers in the field. Video from these cameras informs review of police conduct in disputed circumstances, often with the goal of determining an officer’s intent. Eight experiments ( N = 2,119) reveal that body cam video of an incident results in lower observer judgments of intentionality than dash cam video of the same incident, an effect documented with both scripted videos and real police videos. This effect was due, in part, to variation in the visual salience of the focal actor: the body cam wearer is typically less visually salient when depicted in body versus dash cam video, which corresponds with lower observer intentionality judgments. In showing how visual salience of the focal actor may introduce unique effects on observer judgment, this research establishes an empirical platform that may inform public policy regarding surveillance of police conduct.
Objectives
This randomised controlled trial tested the effect of immediate versus delayed, as well as repeated, questioning on memory retrieval regarding details of officer-involved shootings.
Methods
A sample of 87 police officers experienced “active armed offender” training scenarios followed by a memory questionnaire testing their recall and recognition of details of the scenario. Officers were randomly assigned to one of two experimental groups. Group 1 completed the questionnaire immediately after the training scenario and again 2 days later, while group 2 completed the survey 2 days later only.
Results
Linear mixed models showed that delayed questioning negatively impacted officers’ recognition of correct details of the incident, but only for details not directly associated with threat stimuli. This pattern was supported by the free recall data. Further, officers who were questioned immediately did not experience the same memory decay over time, showing that early questioning can aid memory retention. Officers were also better at recognising correct threat-relevant details (compared to non-threat relevant) that were visual, but the reverse was true for auditory details.
Conclusions
We found no support for the position that delay improves officers’ memory. However, rather than finding universal memory decay over time, the interaction between timing and type of details being recalled revealed a more nuanced picture. This knowledge assists understanding of the limitations of information provided by officers under different interviewing conditions.
Workplace violence is a major health and safety phenomenon. We investigate whether body-worn cameras (BWCs) can achieve a cost-effective reduction of assaults. We conducted a randomized controlled trial with train stations exposed to the highest recorded assault rates against staff in England and Wales. Treatment members of staff were equipped with BWCs and control staff were unexposed to BWCs. Official records of assaults against treatment and control staff as well as against any employee at the station complexes are used as outcome measures. Results suggest 47% significant overall reduction in the odds of assaults against BWCs-equipped staff at treatment versus controls locations-or approximately two versus four assaults, on average, per station. In addition, we found a 26% significant reduction in assaults against all employees in the treatment versus control station complexes-9 versus 12 assaults, on average, per station-suggesting that BWCs have a spatial diffusion of benefits effects. We estimate that BWCs can reduce at least 3,000 working days per year lost because of physical violence at work. We conclude that BWCs provide substantial benefits for staff health and safety to those who are equipped with the devices as well as to staff in the vicinity of BWC-equipped employees. Keywords workplace violence, aggression, staff, train stations, randomized controlled trial (RCT) What can be done to reduce the crisis level of workplace aggression? Millions of staff members are injured, assaulted, or threatened each year, in a wide range of public-facing professions. Nurses, doctors, security guards, police officers, and teachers are particularly vulnerable, and the overall
Background
Scoping reviews are a relatively new approach to evidence synthesis and currently there exists little guidance regarding the decision to choose between a systematic review or scoping review approach when synthesising evidence. The purpose of this article is to clearly describe the differences in indications between scoping reviews and systematic reviews and to provide guidance for when a scoping review is (and is not) appropriate.
Results
Researchers may conduct scoping reviews instead of systematic reviews where the purpose of the review is to identify knowledge gaps, scope a body of literature, clarify concepts or to investigate research conduct. While useful in their own right, scoping reviews may also be helpful precursors to systematic reviews and can be used to confirm the relevance of inclusion criteria and potential questions.
Conclusions
Scoping reviews are a useful tool in the ever increasing arsenal of evidence synthesis approaches. Although conducted for different purposes compared to systematic reviews, scoping reviews still require rigorous and transparent methods in their conduct to ensure that the results are trustworthy. Our hope is that with clear guidance available regarding whether to conduct a scoping review or a systematic review, there will be less scoping reviews being performed for inappropriate indications better served by a systematic review, and vice-versa.
Police legitimacy is generally regarded as a view among community members that police departments play an appropriate role in implementing rules governing public conduct. Placing body worn cameras (BWCs) on police officers has been suggested as a potentially important response to police legitimacy crises. We use a rigorous controlled quasi-experimental evaluation to test the impact of BWCs on citizen perceptions of procedural justice and police legitimacy during traffic stops in Turkey. Relative to stops by officers without BWCs, we find that motorists stopped by officers with BWCs reported improved perceptions of procedural justice in the encounter and perceptions of legitimacy of traffic officers and the police more generally. Supplementary analyses suggest that the perceived improvements in police legitimacy were entirely driven by perceived enhancements in procedural justice during the traffic stop encounter. These findings suggest that body camera technology help ensure procedurally just encounters and improve public perceptions of police legitimacy.
In the aftermath of Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, Missouri, confidence in police has weakened. Body-worn cameras (BWCs) are perceived to increase law enforcement transparency and accountability, and, by proxy, restore law enforcement legitimacy. Though the empirical status of BWCs has grown in recent years, missing from these accounts are the actual words and narratives of officers. Through a qualitative approach, the data and analysis within this paper overcome this issue and indicate that BWCs have had an impact on police–citizen interactions in one Southern American State. More specifically, citizen and officer accountability from BWCs was found to have positive and negative consequence. Officers articulated this supposition in a number of ways and the paper contextualizes these perspectives within the extant literature. The policy implications and areas of future research from these findings are discussed as they inform a non-positivist approach to research.
Purpose
More than a half a dozen published studies have observed the effect of body-worn cameras (BWCs) on complaints against the police. Nearly all, with varying degrees of methodological sophistication, tell a similar story: a strong reduction in complaints filed against the police once BWCs are in use. However, the entirety of the published evidence comes from English speaking countries, limited to the USA and the UK, and is restricted to the effects of BWCs on response policing. The purpose of this paper is to extend this body of research to Latin America, and to specialized policing jobs.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors measured the consequence of equipping traffic police officers with BWCs in five out of the 19 traffic police departments in Uruguay ( n =208), and compared these settings to both the pre-test figures as well as to the non-treatment departments. Interrupted time-series analyses and repeated measures of analysis were used for significance testing.
Findings
Statistically significant differences emerged between the before–after as well as the between–groups comparisons: complaints were five times higher in the comparison vs the treatment jurisdictions, and there were 86 percent fewer cases compared to the pre-treatment period.
Research limitations/implications
These outcomes suggest that the effect of BWCs on complaints is ubiquitous.
Practical implications
The findings indicate that BWCs provide an effective solution for reducing grievances against the police, which can potentially be a marker of increased accountability, transparency and legitimacy for the Latin American law enforcement departments.
Originality/value
This study is an extension of findings on BWCs to non-English-speaking police departments, with a focus on specialized policing rather than patrol policing.
Purpose
Body-worn cameras (BWCs) have been adopted in police agencies across the USA in efforts to increase police transparency and accountability. This widespread implementation has occurred despite some notable resistance to BWCs from police officers in some jurisdictions. This resistance poses a threat to the appropriate implementation of this technology and adherence to BWC policies. The purpose of this paper is to examine factors that could explain variation in officer receptivity to BWCs.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors assess differences between officers who volunteered to wear a BWC and officers who resisted wearing a BWC as part of a larger randomized controlled trial of BWCs in the Phoenix Police Department. The authors specifically examine whether officer educational attainment, prior use of a BWC, attitudes toward BWCs, perceptions of organizational justice, support for procedural justice, noble cause beliefs, and official measures of officer activity predict receptivity to BWCs among 125 officers using binary logistic regression.
Findings
The findings indicate limited differences between BWC volunteers and resistors. Volunteers did have higher levels of educational attainment and were more likely to agree that BWCs improve citizen behaviors, relative to their resistant counterparts. Interestingly, there were no differences in perceptions of organizational justice, self-initiated activities, use of force, or citizen complaints between these groups.
Originality/value
Though a growing body of research has examined the impact of BWCs on officer use of force and citizen complaints, less research has examined officer attitudes toward the adoption of this technology. Extant research in this area largely focusses on general perceptions of BWCs, as opposed to officer characteristics that could predict receptivity to BWCs. This paper addresses this limitation in the research.
Body-worn cameras (BWCs) are touted as a much-needed remedy to address police misconduct. Proponents argue that BWCs can serve not only as an accountability instrument, but that their use will lower costs attributed to investigation and evidence collection in the event of a civilian or internal complaint. However, the push for furnishing patrol officers with BWCs in order to bolster accountability, professionalism, and faith in institutional legitimacy might be a misguided effort. The argument that public perception of police officers’ use of force will be improved once officers are outfitted with a surveillance mechanism is unfounded for at least two reasons. First, evidence suggests that because they are aware of their being recorded, wrongdoing police officers may plant weapons and invoke language at a crime scene that corroborates a justified response to suspects who pose a threat. Second, civilians and officers alike have always known images of unjust state violence and that the presentation of even the most damning evidence does not necessarily deter officers from violating constitutional protections, or reduce the likelihood of being acquitted when they do. Drawing from the narratives offered by 68 Black Baltimore City residents who were interviewed on the heels of Freddie Gray’s death in 2015, this study explores what surveilled community members think of BWCs and their disutility, as well as center their suggestions for true and lasting improvements in police-civilian interaction. Theoretical implications for critical race theory, legal legitimacy, and legal cynicism are also discussed.
Content analysis using established media frames was conducted on newspaper articles from 6 of the top 10 circulated newspapers spanning a 4-year period from May 2012 to May 2016. A total of 819 newspaper articles from the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post were coded using five media frames: conflict, human interest, attribution of responsibility, morality/accountability, and economics. Results show an increase in articles reporting on body-worn cameras (BWCs) and police following the events of August 2014 in Ferguson, MO, and that conflict (57%) was the most prevalent frame, followed by attribution of responsibility (52%), and morality/accountability (52%). Usage of the five media frames varied significantly by newspaper outlet. Findings inform police practitioners how newspapers are framing BWCs, allowing police departments to better manage public expectations of the technology and address officer concerns regarding media coverage.
The Chinese police started using body-worn video cameras (BWVCs) from 2010 in some cities and provinces. On July 1, 2016, shortly after the death of Lei Yang during arrest by police, the Ministry of Public Security ( Gong’anbu) introduced BWVCs as mandatory for all the Chinese frontline police officers through issuing Regulations on Audio and Video Recording of Onsite Law Enforcement for Public Security Units (RAVR). However, despite the nationwide use of BWVCs, the research literature on BWVCs in China remains sparse. Studies from the United States and the United Kingdom provide evidence of the importance of officers’ buy-in to the new technology. It is, therefore, essential to know Chinese officers’ views and evaluations of using BWVCs. Using an anonymized online questionnaire, adapted from published international prior studies, this article reports and evaluates the views of 255 Beijing officers of the Beijing Police Department. Our analysis suggests that, overall, there was a high level of support and a high level of self-reported use for BWVCs among respondents not only because they are required to use them but also because they wanted to. Officers perceived more benefits than disadvantages of using BWVCs and most thought BWVCs would help them in their daily work without reducing their enthusiasm for law enforcement. Some differences were found between officers from different working units and between male and female officers. There were also weak negative correlations between length of service as a police officer and supportive attitudes toward BWVCs. Most criticisms were about technical issues such as higher expectations on the battery life and BWVC reliability.
Purpose
Throughout the last decade, a number of empirical studies have assessed the effectiveness of body-worn cameras (BWCs) among law enforcement agencies across the United States. The purpose of this paper is to examine officers' perceptions regarding the impact this technology has had on police-community relations, as well as the working relationship between police and other actors in the criminal justice system (e.g. prosecutors, jurors).
Design/methodology/approach
The author conducted focus groups with officers ( n = 89) from two local law enforcement agencies in California that had adopted BWCs in recent years. Participating officers discussed advantages and disadvantages they associated with BWCs, as well as how BWCs have impacted their relationship with the public and justice system personnel.
Findings
Officers recognized advantages to using BWCs, including the potential for positive changes in police behavior and the ability to protect officers against false citizen complaints. Officers also identified a number of disadvantages (or consequences) they associate with BWCs, such as the depreciation of credibility behind an officer's word and the impact of video footage on prosecutorial decision-making.
Originality/value
Prior studies have gathered officers' perceptions regarding BWCs, but very few have assessed whether and how the use of this technology by law enforcement influences other actors within the criminal justice system. The findings from this study may prompt further empirical consideration regarding BWCs, especially with regard to whether police use of this technology significantly impacts citizens' trust in the police and how their use may impact prosecutorial and juror decision-making.
The promise of evidence-based policing is to reduce harm with better research for targeting, testing, and tracking police actions. The problems of using evidence-based policing to reduce harm are found in the emotional dimensions of ethics and risk. These problems are most pronounced with fatal police shootings, where the risks of injury to American police are often framed as a zero-sum choice in relation to the ethics of taking citizens’ lives. Yet evidence-based policing offers good prospects for reframing the debate over fatal police shootings, in ways that could reduce harm to both police and citizens. This volume offers substantial new evidence for initiatives at all levels of U.S. government that could help to save lives in police encounters with citizens. Putting that evidence to work remains the major challenge facing the American police.
In recent years, violence by and against the police has been examined from the perspective of organizational accident theory. This article extends that work by reviewing some key ideas, identifying some limitations of organizational accident theory for understanding police-involved violence, and detailing some specific research topics for future empirical exploration. It concludes by offering some specific policy and practice recommendations to reduce police-involved violence.
In only five years, both the implementation of police body-worn cameras (BWCs) and the evidence base evaluating the technology has diffused at a breakneck pace. As the number of studies has increased, so too has the uncertainty surrounding BWCs and their impact on various outcomes. In this commentary, we bring together the differing viewpoints on the five existing summaries of the BWC literature, highlight the key sources of contention, and make recommendations for BWC scholars and consumers moving forward.
This article employs a sociomaterial perspective adapted from information systems and management studies to examine the potential impact of body worn cameras (BWCs) on police organisations. Based on 42 semi-structured interviews with police employees, the study illustrates how wearable camera technology is seen to ‘afford’ officers and agencies the ability to modify their work routines. Further, these modifications occur in conjunction with particular dimensions of body camera system’s material agency. Through the performativity of video recording devices to move, see, hear, and record, officers report altering how they approach patrol work by displacing certain tasks onto their material associates, which allows them to better carry out their duties. Through the interoperability of the cloud storage systems, departments describe being able to reorganise critical information processing routines in support of criminal prosecutions. Through the objectivity of the digital files produced by body-worn camera systems, departments note effortlessly creating packets of events bearing the impression of truth and legitimacy with which they are able to more easily resolve citizen complaints. These findings underscore the importance of remaining attentive to the materiality of technology in policing and law enforcement research.
Drug and alcohol offences represent a significant portion of police work. Officers commonly rely on subjective indicators of intoxication, and prosecutors depend on officer evidence collection, written reports, and testimony at trial. Police body-worn cameras (BWCs) have diffused widely in policing partly due to their perceived evidentiary value, but the extent to which BWCs affect the adjudication of such offences remains unanswered. The current study explores this question with 7,000 misdemeanour cases from Tempe (Arizona), filed from 2014 to 2017. The Tempe Police Department deployed BWCs from November 2015 to May 2016. Results indicate that BWCs had no impact on guilty outcomes, but cameras were associated with significantly shorter time to adjudication. We discuss the important policy implications of these thought-provoking findings.
Body-worn cameras (BWCs) are increasingly more common in their use among police officers. Research on BWCs is the focus of an increasing number of studies seeking information on stakeholder perceptions and the impact of the technology on behavior and other related outcomes. Although the emerging research is mixed, several studies find that officers have concerns about the use of BWCs and may not fully support their use. The current study utilizes survey data from two Southern police departments. Police officers and supervisors were surveyed on their perceptions of BWCs prior to the implementation of BWCs, then again after their implementation. The analysis focuses on changes in perceptions before and after BWC implementation and examines the impact of respondent rank on perceptions. Overall, perceptions became more positive toward BWCs after the implementation; however, differences emerged when considering rank. Respondents at the supervisor rank expressed significantly less concern and more support for BWCs than those at the officer level after implementation. These results are discussed in the context of the importance of officer support and buy-in for BWCs. Policy suggestions and future directions are also discussed.
In light of growing concern regarding the policing of inner-city communities—including questionable incidents of use of force—equipping officers with body-worn cameras (BWCs) has emerged as a salient proposal for reform. Based on a national-level survey of African Americans (n = 1,000), this project shows that wide consensus exists among Black citizens in favor of BWCs. Since ostensibly “videos don’t lie,” implementing camera technology thus may be a means to increase police legitimacy. Importantly, the analysis also reveals that African Americans support a broad range of reforms to improve inner-city policing, of which BWCs are only one. Finally, the survey included a subset of 45 Black police officers. These officers also supported BWCs and most other proposed reforms but at a level that was lower and less intense than African American members of the public.
This article analyzes police, public, and arrestee survey responses from a single jurisdiction to give a multiple-perspective insight into the use of body-worn video (BWV) cameras by police. Police attitudinal data were collected from before (n = 190), during (n = 139), and at the conclusion (n = 221) of a BWV implementation trial. Public attitudes were collected at the conclusion of the BWV implementation trial via online survey (n = 995 respondents) and intercept survey (n = 428 respondents). Arrestee attitudes (n = 302) were collected for detainees in police custody over a 6-month period immediately preceding the BWV trial. Results showed (a) all three perspectives were supportive of the use of BWV, (b) the extent to which police felt BWV influenced their behavior tempered during the trial, (c) the public who had encountered BWV-wearing officers and the arrestee sample indicated limited belief that BWV would reduce bad behavior, and (d) there was clear contention about the policy and practice decisions around recording. These findings have significance for BWV trials, commenting on the importance of collecting police attitudes at multiple points, separating the attitudes of public who did encounter police-wearing BWV, and data collection/policy for evaluation outcomes.
Body-worn cameras (BWCs) are the latest and perhaps most tangible answer to complex social questions regarding the use of force, state legitimacy, and the proper role of police in a liberal democracy. How do officers experience heightened monitoring? This article pursues two objectives via two studies. In the first study, we establish a valid and reliable scale to measure police officer perceptions of the risks posed to them by the recording and distribution of BWC footage, conceptualized as Perceived Intensity of Monitoring (PIM). Based on a survey of 617 police officers, we evaluate an 11-item questionnaire and assess internal consistency and construct validity, perform exploratory factor analysis, and derive a PIM Scale composed of three factors measuring officer perceptions of discretion, disapproval, and distribution effects. In the second study, we evaluate the PIM Scale’s ability to predict officer emotional exhaustion, discriminating between BWC and non-BWC equipped officers. This study contributes to evolving work in BWC research by developing a useful measure for police administrators and practitioners charged with making decisions related to BWC implementation and policy. Further, the PIM Scale is applicable across professions other than policing, as surveillant workplace monitoring and technologies of accountability continue to expand to other contexts.
Body-worn cameras are a promising new development in policing. They have been linked to positive outcomes such as decreases in use of force and complaints against officers. However, this new technology has produced a number of issues that could thwart a successful body-worn camera program implementation. One issue is the extent to which officers possess positive attitudes toward using body-worn cameras. If officers do not view body-worn cameras positively, they may not use cameras to their full potential. This study examined the relationship between organizational justice and attitudes toward body-worn cameras in 492 police officers across 3 agencies using structural equation modeling. Findings indicated no observable relationship between perceptions of organizational justice and attitudes toward body-worn cameras. The implications for the organizational adoption of innovations in policy are discussed.
The implementation of body worn cameras (BWCs) is occurring at a rapid rate and with relatively little information about their potential impacts on both the police and the citizens they serve. The core assumption underlying this widespread adoption is that BWCs will increase self-awareness among police officers as well as citizens, which will in turn reduce negative outcomes and improve police–citizen relations. At the same time, there is a broader movement to emphasize the function of police officers as guardians rather than warriors. This research draws from a mixed method evaluation of a pilot implementation of BWCs in Philadelphia, PA. We draw from focus groups and pre–post survey results to make the case for a wider conceptual frame in understanding the potential for BWCs to transform policing. Specifically, we argue that cameras can provide a tool for police officers to use in emphasizing their role as guardians. We provide evidence from the evaluation to support this view.
Purpose
This study advances our knowledge about the effectiveness of body-worn cameras (BWCs) through exploring the perceptions of English police officers in three principal areas: positive perceptions, negative perceptions and evidence-focussed perceptions. In doing so, the purpose of this paper is to shed new light on the democratising process in the habitus of policing.
Design/methodology/approach
This study presents a novel data set that evaluates the introduction of BWC to police officers in the East Midlands area of England. The authors conducted an extensive survey to explore the perceptions of 162 police officers about the BWCs. The authors examined the empirical data using Stata within the theoretical framework of Pierre Bourdieu concerning the concept of habitus.
Findings
The authors have found that most police officers perceive that BWCs have a positive impact on policing practices and evidence collection. The positive perceptions and evidence-focussed perceptions increase the importance of BWCs; however, there are also negative perceptions regarding effective policing, administrative functionality and establishing a better relationship with the community. The authors argued that all three areas: positive perceptions, negative perceptions and evidence-focussed perceptions play a stimulating role to democratise the habitus of policing. On the other hand, BWCs do not guarantee the consolidation of democratic principles in the habitus of policing because of the authority of police to decide when, where and how to use BWCs.
Research limitations/implications
The research is limited to the perceptions of 162 police officers in East Midlands before they actually started using it. A future study to analyse their real-life experiences after using the BWCs may help us to compare their perceptions before using it with real-life experiences after BWCs are used. In addition, a comparative approach between countries in future research will help to explain the role of technological applications in different social geographies and legal systems.
Originality/value
This study offers new insights about the perceptions of police on BWCs before they started using them. The authors introduce the democratic habitus of policing as an innovative concept and explored power dynamics in the habitus of policing through BWCs. The findings provide a strong empirical contribution to determine the conditions of democratic habitus of policing. In doing so, this study develops our theoretical knowledge about the habitus concept in sociology by employing BWCs in policing activities.
As more police departments adopt body cameras (BCs), there is a hope that the devices will help usher in a new era of police accountability. Turning to the first online archive of BC footage, this article examines the emergent possibilities and problems that arise when human actors interact with technical designs in applied contexts. Communication affordance theory is used as a framework to situate the archive within discussions about police use of social media, visibility, transparency, and police–community relations. A web application using YouTube’s public API was used to analyze the usage and interaction statistics of the archive. Then, a focus group was conducted to discuss the usability of the archive and its benefits and drawbacks for police–community relations. Findings show that despite the visibility of social media, the videos have low view counts, little interaction, are not easily searchable, and raise more questions about police–community relations than they answer.
Purpose: This study examines citizens' perceptions of police body-worn cameras (BWCs) and whether the exposure to BWCs impacts citizens' perceptions of BWCs. Method: A quasi-randomized controlled trial was conducted. Drivers assigned to the experimental group encountered the traffic police officers wearing BWCs whereas those assigned to the control group encountered with the traffic police officers without BWCs. A survey that also included an open-ended question was administered on the drivers after the traffic stop. The answers to the open-ended question were coded first, and then analyzed. Findings: Almost all of the respondents reported that they would support the use of BWCs. They also reported that BWCs would improve evidence, transparency, quality of treatment, police behavior, police lawfulness, compliance, and both police and citizen behavior, and decrease corruption and complaints. The results of the chi-square test for bivariate analysis and test and the logistic regression test for multivariate analysis showed that the exposure to BWCs significantly improved just citizens' perceptions of BWCs including quality of treatment, police behavior, police lawfulness, and corruption. Conclusion: Citizens have positive views about the effects of BWCs, and the exposure to BWCs has positive impact on citizens' perceptions of the effects of BWCs.
Although body-worn cameras (BWCs) have diffused rapidly in law enforcement both in the United States and abroad, questions have emerged regarding the potential utility of BWCs for specialized police units. Given the near-sole focus on patrol during BWC implementation, the role of specialty units in BWC deployment is often overlooked. Further, the advantages, disadvantages, and challenges associated with BWCs may be unique for specialty units compared to patrol, given their differences in mission and operational focus. We explore this issue using qualitative data from 17 focus groups with 72 officers assigned to specialty units in two midsize Western police departments. The findings highlight the importance of carefully considering unit mission when making decisions about BWCs, especially related to policy and procedure.
Police organisations across the world are embracing body-worn video camera technology. The justification for this is to enhance public trust in police, provide transparency in policing activity, increase police accountability, reduce conflict between police and public, and to provide a police perspective of incidents and events. However, while the corpus of research into the efficacy and operational practicalities of police use of body-worn video cameras is developing, questions on some elements of their impact remain. The majority of scholarship has hitherto been evaluations focused on the impact of the cameras on police use of force and on the numbers of complaints against the police. Alternatively, this article explores body-worn video cameras from the perspective of police detainees, and specifically, detainees’ perceptions of the capacities of body-worn video cameras to deliver promised increased levels of accountability in policing. The article draws on a survey and research interviews with 907 police detainees across four Australian jurisdictions. While respondents largely support the use of body-worn video cameras they also identify a number of caveats. We conclude by suggesting that there are still impediments in body-worn video cameras to achieving the level of accountability promised by advocates and expected by the respondents.
The adoption of police body-worn cameras (BWCs) is likely inevitable. This technology has significant implications for police–community relations, enhanced trust and transparency, and complaint investigation. Little is known about officer, or supervisor, attitudes toward BWCs. These dimensions are critical as officer investment and agency policy influence BWC usage and effectiveness. This research uses a mixed-method approach, pairing officer surveys with focus groups of patrol officers and focus groups of supervisors. University police officers participated in the survey using a census approach with near full participation. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected pre- and post-implementation to address attitudinal changes toward BWCs. Results indicate officer and supervisor support for BWCs. Many of the concerns that officers raised in the pretest, including fear of negative evaluations, internal investigations, and technology issues, were not realized. Connecting officer and supervisor perspectives provides guidance for agencies considering adoption and/or implementation of BWCs.
Police departments in the United States are rapidly adopting body-worn cameras (BWCs). To date, no study has investigated the effects of BWCs on police officers themselves, despite evidence suggesting negative effects of electronic performance monitoring on employee well-being. Police officers already experience higher levels of burnout than other professions. We hypothesize that the intense surveillance of BWCs will manifest in how police officers perceive the organizational support of their departments and will increase burnout. We test these hypotheses using data from patrol officers (n = 271) and structural equation modeling. We find BWCs increase police officer burnout, and this effect is statistically different from zero. We also find that BWCs decrease officers’ perceived organizational support, which mediates the relationship between BWCs and burnout. Greater perceived organizational support can blunt the negative effects of BWCs. Our study is the first to situate effects on officers at the center of BWC literature.
Purpose
The diffusion of innovations paradigm suggests that stakeholders’ acceptance of a police innovation shapes how it spreads and impacts the larger criminal justice system. A lack of support by external stakeholders for police body-worn cameras (BWCs) can short-circuit their intended benefits. The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions of BWCs among non-police stakeholders who are impacted by the technology as well as how BWCs influence their daily work processes.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted interviews and focus groups ( n =41) in two US cities where the police department implemented BWCs. The interviewees range from courtroom actors (e.g. judges, prosecutors) to those who work with police in the field (e.g. fire and mental health), city leaders, civilian oversight members, and victim advocates.
Findings
External stakeholders are highly supportive of the new technology. Within the diffusion of innovations framework, this support suggests that the adoption of BWCs will continue. However, the authors also found the decision to implement BWCs carries unique consequences for external stakeholders, implying that a comprehensive planning process that takes into account the views of all stakeholders is critical.
Originality/value
Despite the recent diffusion of BWCs in policing, this is the first study to examine the perceptions of external stakeholders. More broadly, few criminologists have applied the diffusion of innovations framework to understand how technologies and other changes emerge and take hold in the criminal justice system. This study sheds light on the spread of BWCs within this framework and offers insights on their continued impact and consequences.