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Scholarly Article Discussion: Perception of Body -Worn Cameras

Body-Worn Cameras are audio, video or photographic recording systems that can be put on and used to record the events and the actions of the law enforcement officers while on duty. The cameras are manufactured and designed to address the particular requirements in relation to law enforcement. It is a technological advancement in law enforcement that has tremendously gained popularity as a third of the law enforcement agencies have adopted the use of Body-Worn Cameras. The research by Wooditch ()2020 the government has heavily funded the strategy by purchasing sufficient body- Worn Cameras as well as building the capacity of the officers by facilitating trainings to ensure effective and efficient use of the body Cameras.

Alese Wooditch (2020) mentions that there are a number of factors that have facilitated the application of the new technology. Some of the main factors is police brutality that has led to the death of unarmed African-American and has also gotten the attention of the national media as in the case of the death of George Floyd that occurred on 25th May 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The video was caught on camera by a by stander and it was shared on the internet, giving rise to a national outcry and the campaign #Black Lives Matter and a wave of demonstrations and protests across the United States. The study therefore confirms that it is indeed necessary to mount police officers uniforms with BWCs to stop the killing of innocent African-Americans, because the cameras will certainly improve the officers transparency and improve their accountability to the communities they serve.

From the study (2020), LAPD officers stated that the use of BWCs is easy, comfortable and the retrieval of the stored data from the device is also easy. However the concerns of the police officers on BWCs before deployment were mostly on genuine concerns about the citizens they serve as well as the intensity of the crimes they encounter daily. The concerns however got better as the policies officers used the BWCs daily.

The study was well conducted and comprehensive in the sense that, it sought to address all the possible concerns and the perception of police officers on BWCs before deployment and after deployment. The study can also be used by police departments to draw important measures that will facilitate a smooth transition and for the police officers to embrace this new technology. The long term success of the new strategy certainly depends on the attitude of the police officers towards the inclusion of BWCs as one of their day to day tool of work.

Reference.

Wooditch, A., Uchida, C. D., Solomon, S. E., Revier, L., Connor, C., Shutinya, M., … & Swatt, M. L. (2020). Perceptions of body-worn cameras: findings from a panel survey of two LAPD divisions. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 1-28.