Can Cameras Stop the Killings? Racial Differences in Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Body‐Worn Cameras in Police Encounters^,

Abstract

Recent killings of blacks by police have renewed a national discussion about crime, racism, unjust treatment, and implicit bias. Outfitting police officers with body-worn cameras (BWC) is heralded by federal and state lawmakers as one solution to providing more transparency during police encounters. Missing from this discussion is what everyday citizens think about the potential effectiveness of BWC. Using data on residents of Prince George's County, Maryland, this study explores racial differences in views about police treatment and the effectiveness of BWC. We find that nonwhites report more fear of and mistreatment by the police than whites. Regarding BWC, we find that respondents are either supporters or skeptics. On one hand, respondents either believe that BWC will illuminate the difficulties of policing-police supporters-or create more transparency to hold officers more accountable for their actions-citizen supporters. On the other hand, skeptics fall into one of two types-respondents who think that BWC may put police officers more at risksprivacy skeptics-or those who do not see BWC as structurally changing the power dynamics between citizens and police officers-structural skeptics. We conclude by discussing how BWC may operate as a solution to improve interactions between citizens and the police but not necessarily alter power relations.

The Illness Associations of Police Violence: Differential Relationships by Ethnoracial Composition

“… Editor's Note : This article is part of a special issue of Sociological Forum titled “Whose Lives Matter? Violence, Social Control, and the Racial Divide.” For other articles featured in the issue, see Auyero and Sobering (2017), Carter, Parker and Zaykowski (2017), Cerulo (2017), Henricks and Harevy (2017), LeCount (2017), Ray, Marsh, and Powelson (2017), Roschelle (2017), Ruane (2017), Scarborough (2017), Sykes, Piquero, and Gioviano (2017), and Torres, Cannito‐Coville, and Rodriguez (2017). …”

Restructuring Civilian Payouts for Police Misconduct

“…In 2017, we published results from a large study on body‐worn cameras (Ray, Marsh, et al 2017). We conducted interviews with residents of Prince George’s County, Maryland.…”

Police Use of Body-Worn Cameras: Challenges of Visibility, Procedural Justice, and Legitimacy

“…BWCs may impact public perceptions of police legitimacy (both positively and negatively), particularly in marginalized communities. Ray, Marsh, and Powelson (2017) found that racialized groups are less likely to believe implementation of BWCs will make police more accountable or transparent. In this way, BWCs may act as tools that entrench antagonistic relations with marginalized communities.…”