Newsweek: Study Finds Body Cameras Decrease Police’s Use of Force

[Nuclear Unicorn]

Study Finds Body Cameras Decrease Police’s Use of Force

...

The Journal of Quantitative Criminology recently published the study, which detailed the first controlled and much-discussed experiment to ask whether body-worn cameras could reduce the prevalence of police use-of-force or the number of complaints filed against police.

Conducted by the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Criminology, the study, based on a 12-month trial in Rialto, California, found that body-worn cameras reduced the use of force by roughly 50 percent, says Dr. Barak Ariel, the lead author. Complaints against police also fell 90 percent during the study period compared with the previous year.

“This is a promising tool for police officers, which is likely to be a game changer not only for the professionalization of policing, but in terms of police-public relations,” says Ariel, an assistant professor at the Institute of Criminology at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a lecturer in Experimental Criminology at the University of Cambridge in England.

...

http://www.newsweek.com/amidst-debate-study-finds-body-cameras-decrease-polices-use-force-295315

Who watches the watchmen?

We do.

They exist, not as an entity in their own right but with our permission and at our pleasure.

[shanti]

1. If and when they use them, that is

The good cops will use them as they were intended. The bad cops will always find a work-around.

[truedelphi]

2. according to the report last night on NBC, what you say seems to be true.

In Modesto Calif., it seems as though the police can use their "discretion" in having the cameras on or off.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

4. The problem, then, is allowing the officers to use "discretion."

Considering the problem facing us is an indiscreet use of violence it has already been demonstrated it's their "discretion" that is the issue.

[truedelphi]

7. i agree with you.

It is good the cameras exist in many departments across the USA - but we need to have laws that ensure the cameras are always on.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

8. We have cameras in stores, parking lots, street intersections, etc.

Ostensibly to let the populace know that any untoward acts will be captured and the evidence therein used against them. That TPTB decline to live under the same expectations they assert over the rest of us, I think, speaks volumes. In legal terms, taking actions to prevent leaving evidence of one's misdeeds is called "consciousness of guilt."

[branford]

3. The headline is far more evocative and optimistic that the article itself.

The study described in the article indicates significant caveats and reservations admitted by the researchers, did not discuss how Rialto, California was in any way representative of other jurisdictions such NYC or LA, and noted significant DOJ concerns about constitutional and legal matters like privacy that could stymie continued widespread use of police body cameras. The study also indicated that the diminished use of force could actually be attributed to the public modifying its behavior because they were being filmed, i.e., suspects were less violent due to the cameras thereby necessitating less justified police force.

It should be additionally remembered that the public is still extremely sympathetic to the police, and even in matters like Eric Garner, where the entire incident was clearly filmed and publicized, the grand jury still refused to indict.

The proverbial jury is still out on police body cameras. However, I believe the experiment should continue cautiously and methodically.

I not sure by what you mean you state, "They exit, not as an entity in their own right but with our permission and at our pleasure." Are you suggesting we should consider eliminating the police, that they do not have all the rights and legal protections provided to virtually all other public employees, or that a sufficient majority of American citizen actually supports some major overhaul of the very nature, type and extent of policing in the country?

[Nuclear Unicorn]

5. "I not sure by what you mean you state, 'They exit...'"

Typo, now edited.

"They EXIST..."

[Gothmog]

6. I have a friend who introduced a bill for cop cameras in Texas

I doubt that this bill has a chance but it is a good idea http://www.fortbendstar.com/2014/12/18/rep-reynolds-writes-body-camera-bill-2/

District 27 State Rep. Ron Reynolds (D-Missouri City) announced that he’d just filed House Bill 474 during a community discussion about “Getting Criminal Justice Right” on Dec. 9 at Marshall High.

HB 474 would require law enforcement officers to wear body cameras on duty, so interactions with the public will be transparent.

Reynolds said the proposed bill is part of the solution to stop future tragedies such as the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, due to the use of deadly force by law enforcement. In both cases, a grand jury declined to indict the officers involved.

[mythology]

9. It's interesting that complaints against the police dropped by so much more

than the use of force by cops. It seems like there was a positive impact on the citizens as well.

And yes, it may not work out this well in every city and there are some serious privacy issues, and having video/audio didn't help prosecute the cops in the Gardner case, but it seems overall like they are a really positive influence on behavior.