The RIDE study: Effects of body-worn cameras on public perceptions of police interactions

Research During a brief interaction with motorists (i.e., a sobriety check), this study manipulated officer use (and declaration) of a body-worn camera (BWC) (present; absent) while documenting participant BWC recollection (correct; incorrect) to assess effects on motorists’ perceptions of the encou...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Saulnier, Alana (Author) ; Lahay, Ryan (Author) ; McCarty, William P. (Author) ; Sanders, Carrie B. 1978- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2020
In: Criminology & public policy
Year: 2020, Volume: 19, Issue: 3, Pages: 833-854
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Keywords:
Body-worn cameras
Field Experiment
Police
Procedural Justice
Public perceptions
Randomized controlled trial
Description
Summary:Research During a brief interaction with motorists (i.e., a sobriety check), this study manipulated officer use (and declaration) of a body-worn camera (BWC) (present; absent) while documenting participant BWC recollection (correct; incorrect) to assess effects on motorists’ perceptions of the encounter and of police more generally. Results (N = 361) demonstrate that perceptions of procedural justice were more favourable in the BWC-present condition when the entire sample was included in the analyses, but that this effect was not significant when focusing on the subset of the sample that correctly recollected BWC use (though the pattern of the effect was the same in both analyses). Policy Implications In combination with results from a handful of similar studies, this study's results suggest that BWCs may be a tool that can be leveraged to enhance public perceptions of encounters with police; however, more research is needed to substantiate this claim. In particular, the development of evidence-based policy on this matter necessitates continued studies that address issues such as sample imbalances (e.g., gender and minority status), length of the interaction studied (i.e., experimental dosage), and controlling for officer behavior.
ISSN:1745-9133
DOI:10.1111/1745-9133.12511