Repository logo
 

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


Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Ariel, B 
Farrar, WA 
Sutherland, A 

Abstract

Objective: Police use-of-force continues to be a major source of international concern, inviting interest by academics and practitioners alike. Whether justified or unnecessary/excessive, the exercise of power by the police can potentially tarnish their relationship with the community. Police misconduct can translate into complaints against the police, which carry large economic and social costs. The question we try to answer is: do body-worn-cameras reduce the prevalence of use-of-force and/or citizens’ complaints against the police? Methods: We empirically tested the use of body-worn-cameras by measuring the effect of videotaping police-public encounters on incidents of police use-of-force and complaints, in randomized-controlled settings. Over 12 months, we randomly-assigned officers to “experimental-shifts” during which they were equipped with body-worn HD cameras that recorded all contacts with the public and to “control-shifts” without the cameras (n=988). We nominally defined use-of-force, both unnecessary/excessive and reasonable, as a non-desirable response in police-public encounters. We estimate the causal effect of the use of body-worn-videos on the two outcome variables using both between-group differences using a Poisson regression model as well as before-after estimates using interrupted time-series analyses. Results: We found that the likelihood of force being used in control conditions were roughly twice those in experimental conditions. Similarly, a pre/post analysis of use-of-force and complaints data also support this result: the number of complaints filed against officers dropped from 0.7 complaints per 1,000 contacts to 0.07 per 1,000 contacts. We discuss the findings in terms of theory, research methods, policy and future avenues of research on body-worn-videos.

Description

Keywords

Technology, Deterrence theory, Use-of-force, Police, Randomized controlled field trial, Body-worn-cameras

Journal Title

Journal of Quantitative Criminology

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0748-4518
1573-7799

Volume Title

31

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Sponsorship
Funding for this research was granted by Rialto Police and the Jerry Lee Centre of Experimental Criminology