The Effect of Police Body-Worn Cameras on Use of Force and Citizens’ Complaints against the Police: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Study Overview

  • Title: The Effect of Police Body-Worn Cameras on Use of Force and Citizens’ Complaints Against the Police: A Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Authors: Barak Ariel, William Farrar, Alex Sutherland
  • Objective: To investigate whether body-worn cameras reduce the prevalence of police use-of-force and citizens’ complaints against police.

Key Concepts

  • Police Misconduct: Essential concern impacting police-community relationships; can lead to significant economic and social costs.
  • Body-Worn Cameras (BWCs): Hypothesized to deter police misconduct by promoting accountability and adherence to social norms.
  • Deterrence Theory: Posits that visible surveillance (like BWCs) increases the likelihood that individuals will comply with social norms due to fear of repercussions.

Methods

  • Design: Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) over a 12-month period.
    • Sample: 988 police shifts, with officers randomly assigned to either experimental (using BWCs) or control (not using BWCs) conditions.
  • Data Collection: Incidents of use-of-force and citizen complaints were tracked during shifts, with specific outcomes analyzed using Poisson regression models and interrupted time-series analyses.

Results

  • Use-of-Force:
    • Findings: Likelihood of use-of-force incidents was approximately twice as high in control conditions compared to experimental conditions.
    • Statistical Analysis: The analysis found a significant reduction in use-of-force associated with BWCs.
  • Citizen Complaints:
    • Complaints against officers fell from 0.7 per 1,000 contacts before the trial to 0.07 per 1,000 during the trial, indicating a 92% decrease.

Discussion

  • Implications for Policy: Findings suggest that BWCs can be effective in reducing negative police incidents, thereby improving police-community relations.
  • Methodological Considerations: Using shifts as the unit of analysis allows for increased statistical power, though raises potential concerns about treatment fidelity and spillover effects to control conditions.

Literature Review

  • Focus Areas:
    • Historical perspectives and contemporary analyses of use-of-force.
    • Theoretical frameworks surrounding police behavior, including situational, psychological, and organizational influences.
  • Measuring Use-of-Force: No definitive measure exists; various studies explore subjective assessments of what constitutes excessive force.

Future Research Directions

  • Need to explore broader implications of BWCs beyond immediate context, assessing long-term effects on police behavior and community trust.
  • Further investigation into how BWCs impact both police and citizen conduct in diverse policing environments.