The data also points at the idea of civilizing officers or what some call a civilizing effect, meaning that when on camera you’re more likely to think before you act (Sierra-Arevalo, 2015). It’s just the idea that if you know you’re on camera, then you’re more likely to act more appropriate, knowing that the footage could be use against in cases of misconduct (Sierra-Arevalo, 2015). Police body cameras just better improve relations with suspects and members of the community, showing then that cops are there to help and not the bad guy, that most think they are (Sierra-Arevalo, 2015). Another benefit that is video footage can be a training tool for all current and future law enforcement officers, so they can see what they did wrong or what
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A recent study by professors at the University of Cambridge tested this the idea that “by measuring the effect of videotaping police-public encounters on incidents of police use-of-force and complaints, in randomized-controlled settings” (Ariel, Farrar, & Sutherland, 2015). Before starting the study the researchers set out to define the term use-of-force; they defined it as unnecessary/excessive an example of this would be an officer pepper spraying a individual who was not threat, and as reasonable. The study consisted of a little over 900 officers, during the course of a 1 year period, these officers were “randomly-assigned officers to 'experimental-shifts” (Ariel, Farrar, & Sutherland, 2015) The first group was equipped with body-worn cameras that recorded any and all contacts with the community, and the other group was not equipped with a body worn device (Ariel, Farrar, & Sutherland, 2015). At the start of their shifts the officers did not know what group they were going to be placed into. After the period of research the data showed that officers without body cameras had on average 0.7 complaints per 1,000, compared to officers who had body cameras which complaints were 0.07 per 1,000 (Ariel, Farrar, & Sutherland, 2015). So ultimately police body cameras help reduce use of force complaints, but that not all they do. In some situations they can
A recent study by professors at the University of Cambridge tested this the idea that “by measuring the effect of videotaping police-public encounters on incidents of police use-of-force and complaints, in randomized-controlled settings” (Ariel, Farrar, & Sutherland, 2015). Before starting the study the researchers set out to define the term use-of-force; they defined it as unnecessary/excessive an example of this would be an officer pepper spraying a individual who was not threat, and as reasonable. The study consisted of a little over 900 officers, during the course of a 1 year period, these officers were “randomly-assigned officers to 'experimental-shifts” (Ariel, Farrar, & Sutherland, 2015) The first group was equipped with body-worn cameras that recorded any and all contacts with the community, and the other group was not equipped with a body worn device (Ariel, Farrar, & Sutherland, 2015). At the start of their shifts the officers did not know what group they were going to be placed into. After the period of research the data showed that officers without body cameras had on average 0.7 complaints per 1,000, compared to officers who had body cameras which complaints were 0.07 per 1,000 (Ariel, Farrar, & Sutherland, 2015). So ultimately police body cameras help reduce use of force complaints, but that not all they do. In some situations they can