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

Abstract

Recent controversies over police use of force in the United States of America have placed a spotlight on police in Western nations. Concerns that police conduct is racist and procedurally unjust have generated public sentiments that accountability must be externally imposed on police. One such accountability mechanism is body-worn cameras (BWCs). Optimistic accounts of BWCs suggest that the technology will contribute to the improvement of community–police relations. However, BWCs address consequences, not causes, of poor community–police relations. We argue that the evolving visibility of police associated with BWCs is double-edged, and suggest that the adoption of surveillance technologies such as BWCs in the quest to improve community–police relations will fail without a simultaneous commitment to inclusionary policing practices (such as community policing strategies, community and social development, and local democracy). We outline two initiatives that optimize BWCs by promoting these simultaneous commitments.

Body-worn cameras ‘on the move’: exploring the contextual, technical and ethical challenges in policing practice

“…Our participants consistently compared the use of BWCs to other visual surveillance technologies (namely CCTV) and raised similar challenges and concerns during the implementation of both CCTV and BWCs (namely in relation to how these systems are administered and data is managed) (McCahill 2002, Louis et al 2019. According to our participants, the comparison of these surveillance systems implied different levels of (in)visibility, distance/proximity, considering that various angles, views and perspectives can be captured with these different cameras.…”

“…The body-worn camera (BWC) is an audio and video recording device attached to a police officer's body. BWCs move spatially and physically with the police officer's bodily movements and act as a mediating object that shapes how police and citizens interact (Louis et al 2019). But BWCs are also 'on the move' to becoming a more widely used tool in policing practice.…”

“…White and Malm (2020) highlight how the BWC should be seen as a tool and not a 'silver bullet' solution to police misconduct. Indeed, these cameras are often portrayed as allowing increased police transparency and accountability, reduced use of force and violence, and better evidence (Taylor 2016, Dymond and Hickman 2018, Koslicki et al 2019, Louis et al 2019, White and Malm 2020. Nonetheless, literature has also identified considerable privacy threats and impacts on discretion and policing activity (Bud 2016, Mateescu et al 2016, Big Brother Watch 2017, Rowe et al 2018, White and Malm 2020.…”

Live Facial Recognition: Trust and Legitimacy as Predictors of Public Support for Police Use of New Technology

“…Police and other security providers in countries across the world are increasingly turning to new technologies in an effort to undertake core functions more safely and efficiently and to address a rapidly changing landscape of threats, harms and challenges. Physical technologies like body-worn video (BWV), drones, GPS and enhanced scanning equipment are being used more and more alongside—and in conjunction with—softwares such as ‘predictive policing’ algorithms and ‘big data’ in ways that seem to herald a radical shift in the way policing is done (see among many others Ariel et al 2018 ; St Louis et al 2019 ; Meijer and Wessels 2019 ; Ridgeway 2018 ). The use of these technologies may shape the relationship between police and public in a variety of different ways, yet in many cases these developments have occurred without significant public discord or even debate.…”

Live Facial Recognition: Trust and Legitimacy as Predictors of Public Support for Police Use of New Technology

“…Police and other security providers in countries across the world are increasingly turning to new technologies in an effort to undertake core functions more safely and efficiently, and to address a rapidly changing landscape of threats, harms and challenges. Physical technologies like Body Worn Video (BWV), drones, GPS and enhanced scanning equipment are being used more and more alongside-and in conjunction with-software such as 'predictive policing' algorithms and 'big data' in ways that seem to herald a radical shift in the way policing is done (see among many others Ariel et al 2018;Louis et al 2019;Meijer andWessels 2019, Ridgeway 2019). The use of these technologies may shape the relationship between police and public in a variety of different ways, yet in many cases these developments have occurred without significant public discord, or even debate.…”