Police, Public, and Arrestee Perceptions of Body-Worn Video: A Single Jurisdictional Multiple-Perspective Analysis

Abstract

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.

The results of a randomized controlled trial of police body-worn video in Australia

“…From the court perspective, there was limited indication that BWV evidence encouraged earlier guilty pleas, but no evidence that the rate of guilty pleas or convictions increased. Anecdotal evidence from officers involved in the trial may partially explain this, with a large majority indicating at the time of analysis very few of the incidents they had attended when using BWV had appeared in court, and when cases had appeared in court there was a feeling that the BWV footage was not readily accepted (Clare et al 2019). Furthermore, we note that this study was limited because not all of the cases were finalized at the time of the analysis.…”

The impact of general police officer outlooks on their attitudes toward body-worn cameras

“…Studies of police attitudes in this area indicated that, while not particularly strong, respondents believed using a BWC would improve their personal safety (Gaub et al, 2016;Gramaglia and Phillips, 2018;Jennings et al, 2015;Wooditch et al, 2020). Officers in Western Australia questioned the ability of a BWC to increase their safety (Clare et al, 2019). These results suggest a reasonably soft relationship between the use of BWCs and increased feelings of safety.…”

“…A second subcategory focused on using BWCs for evidentiary purposes. Several studies reported that officers saw a BWC as tool to improve evidence collection and quality (Clare et al, 2019;Gaub et al, 2016;Goodall, 2007;Jennings et al, 2015;Pelfrey and Kenner, 2018;Smith, 2019;White et al, 2018). Police officers also felt a BWC could improve their recollection of incident events, reducing errors in their report writing (Jennings et al, 2015;Pelfrey and Kenner, 2018).…”

“…Several studies reported that officers believed that BWC would not be accepted by the public or improve police-citizen interactions (Fallik et al, 2018;Katz et al, 2014;Tankebe and Ariel, 2016). Others found that officers believed BWCs would increase public respect and trust for the police (Gramaglia and Phillips, 2018;Goodall, 2007;McLean et al, 2015) or provide a calming effect on citizens (Clare et al, 2019;Koen et al, 2019). Police officers in Pittsburgh strongly felt that using BWC can help maintain good policecommunity relations (Goetschel and Peha, 2017).…”

“…For example, some research found that officers viewed cameras as a tool that can reduce their use of force (Smith, 2019) or protect them from illegitimate complaints (Fallik et al, 2018;Pelfrey and Kenner, 2018). Other research indicated that some officers changed their views of BWC, usually for the better, once exposed to their utility (Clare et al, 2019;Snyder et al, 2019;White et al, 2018). Others have argued, however, that officers' acceptance of BWCs requires a multidimensional assessment to uncover the nuance and complexity of police officers' subjective thinking toward this technology (Fallik et al, 2018;Kyle and White, 2017;Lum et al, 2019).…”