Body-worn cameras, also known as “body cams,” are small cameras that are worn by individuals.
In the United States, body cams have become a common sight in law enforcement agencies, with all police departments serving populations of over 1 million required to implement them by 2020. Currently, 79% of officers work in departments that utilize body cams. In a significant move, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. signed an executive order in 2022 mandating the use of body cams for federal officers in specific roles.
Despite their widespread use today, it is important to remember that police departments only began testing body cams seriously around 2005.
A decade ago, only a small percentage of police officers wore body cams. However, a series of well-publicized incidents involving abusive behavior by police officers in the mid-2010s led to increased political pressure for the adoption of body cams among law enforcement agencies. This is why they have now become standard equipment for police officers.
Research on the effectiveness of body cams has yielded mixed results. For example, a pilot program conducted in Orlando, FL in 2014 showed a significant reduction (53%) in use-of-force incidents and civilian complaints dropped by 65%. On the other hand, a large-scale study carried out in Washington D.C. in 2017 did not find any significant effects from using body cams.
While many members of the public may believe that body cams are meant to protect civilians from police misconduct and aggressive tactics, data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) indicates that law enforcement agencies deploy these cameras primarily to enhance officer safety, improve evidence quality, reduce civilian complaints and minimize agency liability.
2024-10-12 09:15:02
Source from www.computerworld.com