A mobile video surveillance company has donated body cameras to the Ferguson, Mo. Police Department. The department did not have body cameras at the time of the fatal encounter with Michael Brown. Body cameras have eight hours of recording life and a police radio interface. The number of police departments in the U.S. using body cameras has been increasing, according to the Associated Press. Approximately one in six U.S. police departments use body cameras in some form. [To read the entire story from ABC News, CLICK HERE.]
“Smile, you’re on candid camera!” may be the new mantra for police today. I have to admit that I have mixed feelings about these cameras. On one hand, I understand that given the present level of community distrust, this may be a quick way out. (I do believe it was a good “first and immediate step” by Ferguson police.)
Having said that, I know that the cameras cannot replace the need for our nation’s police to increase their level of civility and courtesy in their interactions with citizens. But when will the cameras be turned on? When and in what situations can they be turned off? How long and where are the video data stored? Who can access it?
I just foresee a lot of problems here that could have been overcome by developing and maintaining higher levels of community trust .
Nevertheless, the Police Foundation recently completed a yearlong study to evaluate the effect of body-worn video cameras on police use-of-force in the Rialto, Calif. Police Department. This study represents the first experimental evaluation of body-worn police video cameras. Cameras were deployed to all patrol officers.
Here’s what they found:
Wearing cameras was associated with dramatic reductions in use-of-force and complaints against officers…
- A 50% reduction in the total number of incidents of use-of-force compared to control-conditions, and
- Nearly ten times more citizens’ complaints in the 12-months prior to the experiment.
[The full report, coauthored with Dr. Barak Ariel, Cambridge University, can be found at the following link. And see the New York Times report on the study. Also a report from the Police Executive Research Forum and the COPS Office regarding guidelines for the use of police body cameras.]
Those are pretty dramatic findings in Rialto. I suppose you could say that the quickest way to improve police behavior is to put personal video cameras on all police. But what about detectives and officers in plain clothes? What about command staff? Can it negatively change police-community interactions?
The bigger picture is this: Are we emerging into a new digital era in which everyone will be wearing video cameras (don’t forget Google-glasses)? If so, ow will this change our interactions with one another? Facebook, texting, Tweeting, video and audio recording. Overall, will this improve policing or not? And let us not forget that the advent any new technology always creates unexpected consequences. Think about what they may be.
I am glad we had the Police Foundation study.
Now let the work begin.
Improving Police: A Necessary Conversation 
David, speaking of technology & unintended consequences, I have been wondering for years when we would get to the point that officers in the field are wired for live streaming audio & video that can be watched back at HQ. A supervisor or commander would then have the technical capability to direct an officer in the field — whether to arrest, cite, shoot, taze, etc. So much for discretion and low visibility decision making. In the end, would the results be better or worse than without the technology? I’m not sure.
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Good points, Gary. Reminds me of a discussion years ago about police and the military — are police soldiers or stand-alone decision-makers? The image you present is very troubling for our future. Almost like a sic-fi scenario in which police officers are more like robo-cops or robots. What scares me about this is that the technology can override everything which needs to be done to develop smart, well-trained, honest, controlled, courteous police who are strongly connected with and integrated within the communities they police. Just like the “first step” for Ferguson was the body camera… What awaits us?
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I can foresee a problem with police interacting with a celebrity or other public figure, and the celebrity hounds will launch a flurry of FOIA requests for the video, for no purpose other than titillation. Anyone who is reporting something sensitive, such as a rape, is not going to want the video available for public entertainment.
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The LAPD got in trouble a year or more ago when some of their officer were disconnecting the videos in their cars so they would not have their actions being recorded.
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Always a possibility.
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I agreed it is a possibility; however, cops need to face punitive punishment when they deliberately turn off their cameras whether it is on their uniforms or in their patrol cars.
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The last paragraph of the Police Foundation Report states: “Lastly, we cannot rule out the possibility that the cameras have (also) modified the behavior of those who interacted with the police. Members of the public with whom the officers communicated were also aware of being videotaped and therefore were likely to be cognizant that they ought to act cooperatively. However, we did not collect any evidence from these individuals to be able to ascertainthis question. In spite of that, the psychological mechanisms ought to be substantially similar, though this is an avenue best explored experimentally in the future.”
Therefore, it would be more precise to state, the evidence in this study supports the conclusion that the quickest way to improve EVERYONE’S behavior is to put personal video cameras on all police.
The cameras need to be left on all the time, record everything. That way there can never be the accusation that there was selective recording or an officer accused of a crime or misconduct for forgetting to turn the camera on in a tense moment.
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I have a sense you may be right here — maybe the ONE thing that can be done to improve everyone’s conduct is the camera! Somehow, it is sad to have to say that…
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