Recorded justice

Mustafa Demir
2016
The perceived benefits of body-worn cameras (BWCs) are grounded in self-awareness theory, which argues that when people are aware that they are being watched, they modify their behavior, exhibit more socially-acceptable behavior, and cooperate more fully with the rules (Duval & Wicklund, 1972). BWCs also increase certainty (Ariel, 2013). Thus, BWCs have deterrent effect on those being watched since everything is recorded and can be used as evidence against them. It is argued that the use of
more » ... is an excellent tool to help improve police and citizen behavior (Ramirez, 2014). However, so far, a rigorous study has not been conducted to investigate the effect of BWCs on police legitimacy, procedurally just policing, citizen behavior (compliance and cooperation) (White, 2014), trust and confidence in police, and satisfaction (Roy, 2014). This study, believed to be the first study of its kind in the literature, investigated the effect of using BWCs on police and citizens during traffic stops. More specifically, this study experimentally tested the impact of BWCs on police legitimacy, traffic police legitimacy, procedural justice, general compliance, specific compliance, cooperation, satisfaction, and citizen perceptions of police. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted. Drivers assigned randomly to the experimental group encountered traffic police officers wearing BWCs, whereas those assigned to the control group encountered traffic police officers not wearing a BWC. After the initial encounter, drivers were asked to participate in a survey. The sample size was 299 for the experimental group and 325 for the control group, with 624 participants in total. In addition, the data on complaints about traffic tickets were collected as external data. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses indicated that BWCs had a statistically significant positive impact on all outcomes. In addition, no complaints about traffic tickets were received from the drivers in the experimental group, whereas six complai [...]
doi:10.7282/t3xs5xk3 fatcat:ztuk5dnkazctrkcci6q2mhe47y