Studying the Outcomes of the Installment of Body Worn Cameras in Police Departments

Abstract

This is a detailed project regarding the effect of the implementation of body worn cameras in police departments. Police departments throughout the nation have been scrutinized by the public in recent years. Police officers have been accused of police brutality, police misconduct and performing their jobs with racism many times. There have been tragic killings, beatings and wrongful arrests. The headliner in responses to this epidemic? Body worn cameras. Body worn cameras were implemented to hold police officers accountable for their actions leading to better job performance. I set out to find the deeper effects that body worn cameras have left on police departments thus far. Do the positives outweigh the negatives? Do body worn cameras realistically do more harm than good? I review literature from well respected authors regarding the implementation of body worn cameras in police departments such as Barak Ariel and many more. I draw data from major city police departments as well as smaller low scale police departments. Some data trends were recognized and supported by my fellow researchers while some were refuted.