The Impacts of Body-Worn Cameras: An Examination of Police Specialty Unit Perceptions through Diffusion of Innovations

Wy, Gabrielle C.; Gaub, Janne E.; Koen, Marthinus C.

doi:10.1007/s12103-021-09624-x

Cited by 11 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…Interview questions focused on how officers perceived the implementation of BWCs and policy creation as well as impacts on officer behavior, organizational structures and practices, and the community. We have reported related findings from this study elsewhere Koen, 2022;Wy, et al, 2022).…”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 67%

Painting the narrative: Police body-worn cameras, report writing, and the techno-regulation of policework

Newell¹,

Koen

2023

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Police body-worn cameras (BWCs) have emerged in response to calls for greater police transparency and accountability. Leveraged as techno-regulatory tools with the potential to influence officer behavior, BWCs may also afford officers opportunities to review video footage prior to writing incident reports, which has implications for how police-public interactions are documented in official records. In this study of BWC adoption by a police agency in the United States, we examine how officers’ ideological perspectives on BWCs, technological limitations, and policy-related concerns influenced their decisions about whether and how to review video as part of their report writing practice. In conclusion, we argue that police practitioners and policy-makers should provide clearer policy guidance to officers about how BWC footage should be used in the report writing process and that police administrators, policy-makers, and researchers should directly consider the role that technology might play in regulating officer behavior, even in unintended ways.

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Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 67%

Painting the narrative: Police body-worn cameras, report writing, and the techno-regulation of policework

Newell¹,

Koen

2023

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“…For example, Rogers (1995) posited that perceptions of a technology are partly shaped by how difficult it is to use, and Orlikowski and Gash (1994) further suggest that these perceptions may ultimately impact the formal usage of the technology on the ground. Although numerous studies have examined the challenges, perceptions, and usage of BWCs among police officers and citizens (for recent examples, see Demir, 2019Demir, , 2022Koen & Willis, 2020;Pickering, 2020;Wright & Headley, 2021;Wy et al, 2022), few have explored legal actors' experiences with BWC footage. Insight from those that have, however, suggests that BWC footage leads to considerable costs and challenges for legal actors.…”

Section: Costs and Challenges Of Bwc Footagementioning

confidence: 99%

The usage and utility of body‐worn camera footage in courts: A survey analysis of state prosecutors

Petersen

Papy

Mouro³

et al. 2023

J Empirical Legal Studies

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Despite substantial recent developments in body‐worn camera (BWC) research, little is known about the effect of BWC footage on downstream criminal justice actors and agencies. Analyzing both quantitative and qualitative survey responses taken from state prosecutors in Miami‐Dade County (FL) in 2019, this study provides one of the most detailed examinations of prosecutors' experiences with BWC footage to date. Using descriptive analyses, ordinary least squares regressions, and structural equation modeling, we examine how the operational challenges associated with BWC footage affect the degree to which prosecutors use the footage and perceive it to be useful. Our results suggest that poor footage quality and delayed video transfer may limit the utility of BWC footage—and in turn—that lower perceptions of utility may reduce the formal usage of BWC footage in court. These findings differ across case‐processing stages, however, with transfer delay affecting the utility of BWC video for charging decisions and footage quality affecting the utility of BWC video across multiple case processing stages. Implications and policy recommendations based on these results are discussed.

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“…al., 2019). While important, these studies tend to use similar measures, and although there may be a few items about officers' attitudes' toward BWCs, training, and supervision, these do not provide an opportunity for officers to articulate their thoughts beyond the narrow constraints of the specific survey items (but see Gaub, Todak, et al, 2020;Koen et al, 2018;Wy et al, 2021). Nor do they afford researchers the opportunity to ask follow-up questions to help identify and clarify important nuances, questions, and concerns (Richardson & Kutetladze, 2020).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast”: An in‐depth examination of police officer perceptions of body‐worn camera implementation and their relationship to policy, supervision, and training

Willis

2022

Criminology & Public Policy

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Research Summary This study uses interviews with 23 police officers from a small police department to conduct an in‐depth examination of their perceptions of three critical but understudied areas related to body‐worn camera programs: the implementation and policy‐making process, supervision, and training. The focus is on understanding the factors which contribute to, or undermine, body‐worn camera integration and acceptance. Policy Implications Including patrol officers directly in the implementation and policy‐making processes might help increase officer acceptance of body‐worn cameras (BWCs), and the identification of potential implementation problems (especially around BWC activation, civilian notification, and minor violations of department policies). Moreover, police departments may need to anticipate resistance from features of the traditional police culture toward certain BWC uses and consider how these might be overcome. One suggestion is to conduct regular reviews of BWC footage with officers as a learning tool to help guide discretion on BWC use (especially around recording protocols), to help reframe BWCs as an innovative technology for improving street‐level performance, and to provide routine reminders to officers of the importance of BWC activation and civilian notification for achieving their potential benefits.

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The Impacts of Body-Worn Cameras: An Examination of Police Specialty Unit Perceptions through Diffusion of Innovations

Cited by 11 publications

References 75 publications

Painting the narrative: Police body-worn cameras, report writing, and the techno-regulation of policework

Painting the narrative: Police body-worn cameras, report writing, and the techno-regulation of policework

The usage and utility of body‐worn camera footage in courts: A survey analysis of state prosecutors

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast”: An in‐depth examination of police officer perceptions of body‐worn camera implementation and their relationship to policy, supervision, and training

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