Body Cam Study Shows No Effect on Police Use of Force or Citizen Complaints

Megalith

Megalith

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Having police officers wear little cameras seems to have no discernible impact on citizen complaints or officers' use of force, at least in the nation's capital: that's the conclusion of a study performed as Washington, D.C., rolled out its huge camera program. The city has one of the largest forces in the country, with some 2,600 officers now wearing cameras on their collars or shirts.

"We found essentially that we could not detect any statistically significant effect of the body-worn cameras," says Anita Ravishankar, a researcher with the Metropolitan Police Department and a group in the city government called the Lab @ DC. "I think we're surprised by the result. I think a lot of people were suggesting that the body-worn cameras would change behavior," says Chief of Police Peter Newsham. "There was no indication that the cameras changed behavior at all."
 
says Anita Ravishankar, a researcher with the Metropolitan Police Department and a group in the city government called the Lab @ DC.
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I don't mean to be a naysayer, but hopefully we'll get some more sources not affiliated with a city entity. To her credit, I'd be surprised too, so hopefully some other unaffiliated research groups can reinforce her findings.

Or "worst" case, if they disagree then it would just show that DC cops are doing a good job. Which could be!

I'd also venture that the DC area isn't really representative of places like... Los Angles or Chicago. Tasing someone in DC might... be politically complicated ;)
 
Most cops do a good job. It's the fringe 0.01% you hear about. Lets face it. There are something like ~2 million police and other government agencies with arrest powers and you don't hear as much as you think you'd hear.
 
It's primary purpose isn't to change behavior. It's to hold LE accountable for their malfeasance.

I avoid them wherever possible, and record at all times... just in case. There are far too many bad ones... looking to escalate.
 
DC could be an outlier. The population has no problem electing known criminals as leaders. And Congress has final oversight. They aren't exactly known for caring about the preserving the rights of the common citizen who interacts with law enforcement.
 
5icko said:
It's primary purpose isn't to change behavior. It's to hold LE accountable for their malfeasance.

I avoid them wherever possible, and record at all times... just in case. There are far too many bad ones... looking to escalate.
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No there aren't. In 20 years, the use of body cameras will show juries exactly how Joe Shitbag acts when he interacts with the police and it won't go well for him. Not to mention all discretion a police officer has will go out the window as superiors are reviewing tapes for compliance. You can't just ignore the marijuana in the room anymore.

I'm pretty sure that some group in NYC sued the NYPD for using body cameras as it showed their clients behavior for what it was.
 
Tiburon1186 said:
Probably because body cams now show the entire situation in context, but people are still trying to show out of context video with their complaints. #HoldTheLine
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5icko said:
It's primary purpose isn't to change behavior. It's to hold LE accountable for their malfeasance.
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Honestly it's both. Plenty of scumbags that deserved to be shot/assaulted or whatever and plenty of innocent people whom the cops simply threw a tantrum over when they didnt respect their authoritah.
 
who cares if there's no difference in police behavior/complaints, the whole point of the cameras isn't to get police officers to be better by "faking it" while they're on camera, it's to give "impartial" evidence when someone says a police officer did that, but someone said no they didn't.

Actually what I get from this is that overall regardless of a few bad apples, the "bad guys" really are "the bad guys" and regardless of them professing "I did nothing wrong" they really did, and they did resist getting arrested, and now their is video evidence to back that up.
 
5icko said:
It's primary purpose isn't to change behavior. It's to hold LE accountable for their malfeasance.

I avoid them wherever possible, and record at all times... just in case. There are far too many bad ones... looking to escalate.
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It is not just to hold LEO's accountable. It is simply to record encounters. It is evidence that can be used to exonerate an officer and condemn a criminal just as easily.

Due to personal experience, I have been taught by crappy leos, to avoid all interactions with leos, on duty or off, as well.
 
Bodycams here in Baltimore show a different story with our corrupt police getting caught MULTIPLE TIMES planting drugs on innocent citizens, all of whom were our African American brothers and sisters. Though no amount of bodycams will ever replace the god awful training and low standards many of our police departments have. We stand to learn a lot from our European friends on how to properly train officers on how to handle various situations.
 
Not surprised at all. When police continue to get away with use of force, the public opinion on their side, and the current political climate, brazenness is the operative word these days.

Simply put, if you have an encounter with the police, just hope and pray they are the good cops and simply do what they say no matter what or how humiliating it feels. Otherwise, it's bad news for you.
 
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Could it be that perps see that body cam on cops and decide to use it as a opportunity to get their 15 min of fame? Lol. Jk.
 
Chunder said:
Bodycams here in Baltimore show a different story with our corrupt police getting caught MULTIPLE TIMES planting drugs on innocent citizens, all of whom were our African American brothers and sisters. Though no amount of bodycams will ever replace the god awful training and low standards many of our police departments have. We stand to learn a lot from our European friends on how to properly train officers on how to handle various situations.
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Exactly, how are European officers trained? Can you tell us?
 
savagepagan said:
Exactly, how are European officers trained? Can you tell us?
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It's not how the European officers are trained. It's the attitude of each individual. We're in an era of prosperity relatively speaking. Our previous generations worked their ass off and made America what it is today. And as history shows especially with the Romans, moral decay eventually rears its ugly head. We're not treating each other nicely or with respect. The income disparity is starting to rear its ugly head. The education system is not doing well. We are at each other's throats politically. High divorce rates. All these adds up.

Or maybe it is as simple as only those that are assholes and looking for power apply for law enforcement jobs.
 
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Nallexi said:
Trained to deal with a mostly European populace, for a start. It helps.
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Honestly this. Most demographics on US commit crime on same level as Europe (Middle/Upper middle class whites commit same murder rate at belgium) but uniquely we have a culture of REALLY intense crime contained to a few inner city pockets. Any cop that potentially has to deal with that will of course be on edge, and could make sense they have difficulty turning it off in less intense situations. That said, with changing demographics and increasing crime of Europe I imagine they are more likely to become like us, rather than us like them when it comes to policing.
 
So in simple terms those who resist arrest still get arrested and their homies still maintain that the arrestee dindo nuffin.
 
It could just be that DC is the statistical outlier in America.

because I've seen plenty of footage of corrupt American cops caught by their own bodycam.
 
Chunder said:
We stand to learn a lot from our European friends on how to properly train officers on how to handle various situations.
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Yeah, just send in a few platoons of British bobbies; I'm sure their advanced European training, lack of firearms, and stern voices would halve the murder rate in south side Chicago almost overnight!
 
You would only expect an impact if there was a statisically significant number of cops doing thing they shouldn't AND bodycam footage leads to a statistically significant increase in punishments for cops.

If the worst thing the bodycam does for you is make you look bad, who cares?
 
It might take longer than 2 years to see tangible changes. But if the police officers are doing their job correctly, the cameras shouldn't be getting in their way anyways. That's the point. A non invasive way to help both the police and public.

How does it save a police officer?
Well it's evidence that can support their side of a story, if a person of the public messes them around. Such as validating why certain levels of force was used.

How does it save a member of the public?
The same way it saves the officer. It's a conclusively impartial second source of info in a situation.

Those that are against body cams on police officers forget why we have police to begin with, and why they are so rigorously vetted and trained. They are there to help the public, and they are still humans.
 
BloodyIron said:
It might take longer than 2 years to see tangible changes. But if the police officers are doing their job correctly, the cameras shouldn't be getting in their way anyways. That's the point. A non invasive way to help both the police and public.

How does it save a police officer?
Well it's evidence that can support their side of a story, if a person of the public messes them around. Such as validating why certain levels of force was used.

How does it save a member of the public?
The same way it saves the officer. It's a conclusively impartial second source of info in a situation.

Those that are against body cams on police officers forget why we have police to begin with, and why they are so rigorously vetted and trained. They are there to help the public, and they are still humans.
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This guy gets its. It's not about being a deterrent as much as it is to provide evidence either to justify actions or prove wrongdoing.

My last and current job both involve video surveillance. I've been the system designer, the installer, and the guy that pulls video for the police/HR/management/risk or whoever. People get comfortable around cameras, even police officers I'm sure. Employees will still steal, fist fights will still happen, and armed robbery will still occur. Deterrence is only partially effective so the best we hope for is evidence.
 
MrDeaf said:
... because I've seen plenty of footage of corrupt American cops caught by their own bodycam.
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Isn't that indirectly what the report says? Their behaviour didn't change when they wore a camera. The camera did help setting things straight afterwards.
(Just like all the CCTV used in Britain. Street crime hasn't dropped significantly, but more of it is gets a closure.)
 
Body cams are good for both citizens and cops. Because there are bad apples amongst both.
 
It's a means for the truth, whether the officer is misbehaving or whether the citizen he/she has to deal with is a shitbag.
 
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