Body-Worn Cameras and Internal Accountability at a Police Agency

Marthinus Koen; Brooke Mathna

doi:10.29333/ajqr/6363

Marthinus Koen ¹ ^* , Brooke Mathna ¹

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AM J QUALITATIVE RES, Volume 3, Issue 2, pp. 1-22

https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/6363

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Abstract

Existing research on body-worn cameras have primarily focused on certain policing outcomes (e.g., citizen complaints and use-of-force), however, only a handful of research to date has considered how the implementation of body-worn cameras have impacted internal organizational processes at police departments. Using semi-structured interviews, a survey, and ride-along observations, we examined how body-worn cameras impacted the way police officers were held or felt accountable for their behavior. The study was conducted at the Sunnyvale Police Department (pseudonym), a small city agency in the United States that had been using cameras for two and a half years. Particularly, we describe how body-worn cameras impacted accountability at Sunnyvale within different organizational contexts that included reporting, citizen interactions, training, and supervision. Consistent with the hopes of reformers, body-worn cameras did seem to raise the general sense of accountability as they became a part of training, citizen encounters, reporting, and supervision. However, these changes were not like reformers would have imagined, as the department did not intently use cameras in a way to hold officers any more accountable for their conduct and performance on the street.

Keywords: Police Accountability, Police Technology, Body-Worn Cameras.

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Citation

Koen, M., & Mathna, B. (2019). Body-Worn Cameras and Internal Accountability at a Police Agency. American Journal of Qualitative Research, 3(2), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/6363

Koen, M., and Mathna, B. (2019). Body-Worn Cameras and Internal Accountability at a Police Agency. American Journal of Qualitative Research, 3(2), pp. 1-22. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/6363

Koen M, Mathna B. Body-Worn Cameras and Internal Accountability at a Police Agency. AM J QUALITATIVE RES. 2019;3(2), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/6363

Koen, Marthinus, and Brooke Mathna. "Body-Worn Cameras and Internal Accountability at a Police Agency". American Journal of Qualitative Research 2019 3 no. 2 (2019): 1-22. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/6363

Koen, Marthinus et al. "Body-Worn Cameras and Internal Accountability at a Police Agency". American Journal of Qualitative Research, vol. 3, no. 2, 2019, pp. 1-22. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/6363

Koen M, Mathna B. Body-Worn Cameras and Internal Accountability at a Police Agency. AM J QUALITATIVE RES. 2019;3(2):1-22. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/6363