There has been an increase in the number of agencies employing BWC in America. According to Braga et al. (2017), approximately a third of the 18,000 or more law enforcement agencies in America have adopted this type of technology. The BWCs have been adopted as a response to the continued community complaints on the excessive use of force by the police force towards the citizens (Braga et al., 2017). The capability of law enforcers to fight crime effectively depends on how the public perceive the legitimacy of the police officers’ actions. According to Aishwariya et al. (2017), the increased application of force by the police officers shows that law enforcement bodies are facing challenges with the public perception of their legitimacy. Therefore, the BWCs are tools for addressing legitimacy problems as well as improving law enforcement practices in general. The BWCs offer real-time information concerning the police's encounter with community members (Aishwariya et al., 2017). More so, BWCs provide the law enforcement agencies with a tool of surveillance necessary in promoting the officer's efficiency and safety as well as in preventing crime.
Deterrence Theory, the Self-awareness Theory, and the Body-Worn Cameras
There are two theoretical perspectives applied to support the implementation of the BWCs as a tool for ensuring police and citizens’ civility. The deterrence theory proposes that one is unlikely to commit crimes when they perceive the costs of committing the crime exceeds the benefits from it (Ariel et al., 2018). The BWCs deter one from engaging in behavioral misconduct in the citizens and police encounters. According to Ariel et al. (2014), the presence of a camera in an officer's body reduces noncompliance by preventing them from engaging in crime with the fear of risking conviction and apprehension using the evidence observed on the screen by an operator or captured on a videotape. In both citizens and officers, a camera’s availability during an encounter increases the probability of capturing illegal behaviors and misconduct, thus generating a deterrent effect through exacerbating their views of the probability of punishment and apprehension.
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The self-awareness approach emphasizes focusing attention on oneself, in which they assess and compare the current behavior against their internal values and standards. According to Braga et al. (2017), the self-awareness approach further dictates that when humans are under observation they tend to change their mode of operation or behavior to exhibit those that are more socially appropriate. When individuals are self-aware, they tend to be more vigilant aligning their behaviors and actions to the personal standards. They believe that if they fail to meet the socially appropriate standards they are likely to be negatively affected. According to Lum et al. (2019), situations, and environmental cues such as an audience, mirrors, and cameras can induce self-awareness. According to Ariel et al. (2014), BWCs have both an extrinsic and an intrinsic effect on the individuals being watched. Therefore, it is clear that both the citizens and the police officers are capable of changing their behaviors to portray socially desirable behaviors in their encounters when under observation.
Impacts of the Body-Worn Cameras
Pros
It is still unclear whether self-awareness and the deterrence effect of the body-worn cameras are responsible for the improved civility on the citizens and the police encounter. A randomized study in Rialto, California showed that officers using the BWCs during their normal shifts achieved a 50% decrease in the reports filed on the application of force and a 90% reduction in complaints filed (Braga et al., 2017). A quasi-experimental study in Mesa, Arizona showed that application of the body-worn cameras led to a 48% reduction in the number of complaints on the misconduct of officers towards the citizens (Maskaly et al., 2017). More so, during the study period, there was a decline of 75% on the citizen's complaints against the police's application of force.
BWCs tend to reduce complaints among citizens. A randomized study in Orlando, Florida showed that officers with the cameras had lower rates of citizen complaints compared to those without (Maskaly et al., 2017). Nonetheless, in Florida, there was a significant decrease in the incidences of response to resistance, whether with the application of chemical agents, electronic control devices, and other impacts weapons. Additionally, the BWCs have a positive effect on the administrative or the technical aspects of the police officer's job. According to Maskaly et al. (2017), BWCs tend to increase the willingness of the collection of evidence as well as report writing, which aids the prosecutor's work. For example, a study on officers with BWCs on the case of intimate partner violence showed that there were high chances of making an arrest, file charges, thus resulting in a conviction (Maskaly et al., 2017). Therefore, it is clear that BWCs increases the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies.
Cons
The change in behavior with the implementation of the body-worn cameras may not always be a positive thing to the officers. According to Maskaly et al. (2017), the police officers with the BWCs were most likely to initiate encounters with the citizens as well as writing citations. Moreover, many scholars agree that the application of force as it relates to the absence and the presence of the body-worn cameras varies according to the officer's discretion when they want the cameras turned off. According to Maskaly et al. (2017), force application was reduced when the policemen and women were in control of choosing when to switch on the cameras. Despite the police officer's general receptiveness and perceptions of the BWCs, they also create a perception bias depending on the type of camera applied. Therefore, it is clear that the BWC can be maliciously applied.
Case Study
Ferguson Shooting
The Ferguson, Missouri shooting in 2014 of Michael Brown depicts a case of excessive application of force by police officers. There were varying accounts of what transpired after Brown was shot and killed by officer Darren Wilson (Nunes, 2016). Officer Wilson claimed that he took the fatal shot as an act of defending himself from Brown. However, witnesses confirmed that Brown was raising his hands above his head as a way of surrender when Officer Wilson shot him. Ferguson's shooting case indicates the necessity of wearing the body-worn cameras by the police officers as the contrasting eyewitness accounts make it impossible to decide with certainty what transpired (Nunes, 2016). The BWCs in this case, would help with answering questions such as, was Officer Wilson perjuring to avoid facing the liability of killing Michael? Were the eyewitnesses changing what transpired? Therefore, the Fergusson case explores the body-worn cameras' effectiveness in processing complaints that can arise from the citizen and police encounters. Moreover, these cameras are beneficial to the court system by maximizing its efficiency in handling claims arising from the excessive application of force by the police officers.
Axon Technology
Axon technology helps in defending communities through developing body-worn cameras that automatically record the events that transpired. The Taser Axon Flex has a variety of mounting options such as the hat mount, eyewear mount, collar mount, low rider headband, and adhesive mount (Hung et al., 2016). According to Hung et al. (2016), recorded videos in the Taser Axon cameras appear with the date on when the video was created and the time. Axon technology increases integrity because of its capability to protect the data from being altered. Axon flex microphone is capable of detecting audio from 15-20 feet when people speak in normal volumes (Hung et al., 2016). Storage of data in Axon is in the form non-removable solid-state embedded multimedia card. Media in the Axon technology exists directly in the circuit board for ensuring more virtual and physical security. The camera does not allow any overwriting, deleting, or any modifications of the video footage (Hung et al., 2016). Nonetheless, the camera allows remote viewing through pairing the gadget to a mobile application that allows even viewing of a live feed of what the cameras are recording. Therefore, axon technology helps protect suspects and officers through the creation of less-lethal weapons that are smart in defusing situations.
Obama Authorization of the Funding for the Body-Worn Cameras
In a democratic government, trust is necessary among the people and law enforcement agencies. According to the President's Task Force on 21st Century (2015), trust is necessary for ensuring the criminal justice system's integrity, stability in the communities as well as for effective and safe delivery of the policing services. President Obama following events such as the Fergusson’s shooting, which showed the existing problems in the relationship between the communities and the police officers he developed strategies and policies that would minimize the crime rates and foster cooperation (President’s Task Force on 21 st Century Policing, 2015). As part of the commitment to establishing transparency and trust President Obama, through the justice department awarded grants of more than 23.2 million dollars to 32 state agencies to expand their application of the body-worn cameras. As a way of building on the president's proposal to purchasing 50, 000 body-worn cameras for the various laws enforcement agencies these grants were awarded (U.S. Department of Justice, 2016). Therefore, it is clear that body-worn cameras help in building respect and trust necessary in the development of communities in America.
References
Aishwariya, A., Sudhir, G., Garg, N., & Karthikeyan, B. (2017). Body-Worn Cameras. IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering , 263 (5). https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/263/5/052023
Ariel, B., Farrar, W., & Sutherland, A. (2014). The Effect of Police Body-Worn Cameras on Use of Force and Citizens’ Complaints Against the Police: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Quant Criminol , 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-014-9236-3
Ariel, B., Sutherland, A., Henstock, D., Young, J., & Sosinski, G. (2018). The Deterrence Spectrum: Explaining Why Police Body-Worn Cameras ‘Work’ or ‘Backfire’ in Aggressive Police–Public Encounters. BWC BWV Body Worn Cameras Wearable Technology , 12 (1), 6-26. https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paw051
Braga, A., Coldren, J., Sousa, W., Rodriguez, D., & Alper, O. (2017). The Benefits of Body-Worn Cameras: New Findings from a Randomized Controlled Trial at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department . Washington: CNA. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/251416.pdf
Hung, V., Babin, S., & Coberly, J. (2016). A Market Survey on Body Worn Camera Technologies . The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/250381.pdf
Lum, C., Stoltz, M., Koper, C., & Scherer, J. (2019). Research on Body ‐ Worn Cameras. Criminology & Public Policy , 18 (1), 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12412
Maskaly, J., Donner, C., Jennings, W., Ariel, B., & Sutherland, A. (2017). The effects of Body-Worn Cameras (BWCs) on Police and Citizen Outcomes: A state-of-the-art review. An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management , 40 (4), 672-688. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-03-2017-0032
Nunes, I. (2016). Hands up, Don't Shoot: Police Misconduct and the Need for Body Cameras, 67 (5), 1-35. Retrieved 3 October 2020, from https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1290&context=flr .
President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing (2015). President’s Task Force on 21st Century PolicingFinal Report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing (pp. 1-116). Washington, DC: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. Retrieved from https://cops.usdoj.gov/RIC/Publications/cops-p311-pub.pdf
The United States Department of Justice (2015). Justice Department Awards over $23 Million in Funding for Body-Worn Camera Pilot Program to Support Law Enforcement Agencies in 32 States . Retrieved from https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-awards-over-23-million-funding-body-worn-camera-pilot-program-support-law
