Library Guides: Topics in Criminal Justice: Body Worn Cameras

Relevant Databases

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Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window A fulltext database spanning academic disciplines with coverage of popular press and scholarly publications, including peer-reviewed journals.
HeinOnline This link opens in a new window Provides comprehensive coverage of law and law-related periodicals. Also contains historical trial records, important legal works from the 16th to the 20th centuries, treaties, and select government records, including the Congressional Record and the Federal Register.
NCJRS Abstracts This link opens in a new window Contains summaries of the more than 200,000 criminal justice, juvenile justice, and substance abuse resources housed in the National Criminal Justice Reference Service Library.
Homeland Security Digital Library This link opens in a new window - The nation's premier collection of documents related to homeland security policy, strategy, and organizational management.

Reports.

Body-Worn Camera Laws Database - National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) is a bipartisanship organization with a commitment to serving both Republicans and Democrats; NCSL is recognized for comprehensive, unbiased research.
IACP Model Policy on Body-Worn Cameras - Discusses the use and application of this technology in operational contexts; International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Implementing a Body-Worn Camera Program: Recommendations and Lessons Learned - This publication is intended to serve as a guide to the thoughtful, careful considerations that police departments should undertake if they wish to adopt body-worn cameras; Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, U.S. Department of Justice.
Police Body-Worn Cameras: Where Your State Stands - Urban Institute site; policies concerning body-worn cameras vary considerably across the country. Use our legislation tracker to find out more about passed and pending laws in your state.
Police Body Camera Policies: Retention and Release - A chart by city that includes categories for how long video is kept if it does not contain evidence of a crime, the rules for public access to videos, and any exemptions to local Freedom of Information laws that are specific to body-worn cameras; Brennan Center for Justice, New York Univesity School of Law.
Police Body Worn Cameras: A Policy Scorecard - Scorecard of 50 local police departments that have equipped — or will soon equip — their officers with body cameras; additionally, departments that have received more than $500,000 in DOJ grant funding to support their camera programs; non-profit organization, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
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Jump down to "Civil Rights Principles on Body Worn Cameras"
Police Officer Body-worn Cameras: Assessing the Evidence Police -- United States -- Equipment and supplies., Wearable video devices in police work.

Body Worn Cameras

"Body cameras" can mean a couple of things and cause confusion for criminal justice students. Search engines like Google and the library databases look for each word. For example, the words body and camera can bring up results about sports training or medical operations, which is not on topic. Body-worn cameras may be referred to as BWCs in the literature. Suggested search: SubjectTerms:"Body-worn cameras"

For more resources available from UM Libraries, see the CJ Subject Guide.

Overview Publications

Body-Worn Cameras: Exploring the Unintentional Consequences of Technological Advances and Ensuring a Role for Community Consultation The article discusses the role that police body-worn cameras can play in promoting police-community relations in America, and it mentions police legitimacy and transparency, skepticism about law enforcement technology, and police accountability and professionalism. According to the article, body-worn cameras can be used to document invalidate frivolous claims of police misconduct. Electronic surveillance in America is assessed, along with a Model Body-Worn Camera Policy.
Body-worn Camera Toolkit - Impressive site addressing research, implementation, policy, technology, training, community stakeholders, funding, the national landscape, privacy issues, victim issues, podcasts and videos; Bureau of Justice Administration, DOJ.
High-tech Policing: CQ researcher - Looks at the question: are new surveillance technologies effective and legal? Especially recommend the Chronology section.
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Mantel, B. (2017, April 21). High-tech policing. CQ researcher, 27, 337-360. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/
Research on Body-Worn Cameras and Law Enforcement - Overview of research including NIJ-funded ongoing research, technical guidance, and market survey on body-worn cameras; National Institute of Justice (NIJ).

Privacy Issues

Beyond Surveillance: Data Control and Body Cameras The article discusses the cost that comes with the rapid adoption of body-worn cameras by the police such as whether the surveillance and privacy implications of policy body-worn cameras is worth any increase in accountability. It notes how collected data presents the danger of an endless surveillance loop and the unresolved questions of how any resulting data is stored, analyzed and shared. It cites the lack of clear policies on data sharing in police departments around the U.S.
The Privacy and Surveillance Implications of Police Body Cameras An introduction is presented wherein the editor discusses various reports in the issue on topics including the use of body-worn cameras in Australia, rationalizations for body-worn cameras in the broader policing literature and the inadequate legal regulation of body-worn cameras in Canada.
When Cameras Are Rolling: Privacy Implications of Body-Mounted Cameras on Police - The potential privacy implications of the use of body-mounted cameras by police is considered. Specifically, how policy concerns and legal limitations should shape when and where cameras may record and what may be done with the footage once it has been collected. Currently, there are few clearly established legal limits on the use of body-mounted cameras, although the Fourth and First Amendments, as well as state wiretapping statutes, provide some boundaries.
Fourth Amendment Implications of Police-Worn Body Cameras The article offers information on the implications of the Fourth Amendment to U.S. Constitution on the police-worn body cameras in the U.S. Topics discussed include history of Fourth Amendment which provides protection from unreasonable searches and seizures for citizens of the U.S.; U.S. Supreme Court case Katz v. United States, discussing the nature of the right to privacy; and analysis of reasonable expectation of privacy and body camera use.

Topic Ideas

How other countries use body cameras
Police officer & administration perspectives
Police brutality and the adoption of BWCs
Privacy issues
Police-public interactions

Police Officer & Administration Perspectives

Police Body-Worn Cameras: Perceptions of Law Enforcement Leadership Among the major perceptual findings are that command staff believe BWCs will impact police officers’ decisions to use force in encounters with citizens and police will be more reluctant to use necessary force in encounters with the public. Respondents also believe that use of BWCs is supported by the public because society does not trust police, media will use BWC data to embarrass police, and pressure to implement BWCs comes from the media.
Police Officers’ Perceptions of Body-worn Cameras in Buffalo and Rochester This study provides survey responses from police officers in Buffalo and Rochester regarding their perceptions of body-worn cameras. Findings suggest similar attitudes toward body cameras not only among Buffalo and Rochester police officers, but also with police officers in other agencies. Almost all respondents agree or strongly agree that police officers should have the ability to review body camera images prior to writing a report. The policy implications of this finding are discussed.
Cops and Cameras: Officer Perceptions of the Use of Body-Worn Cameras in Law Enforcement This study relies on baseline data of officer perceptions toward body-worn cameras collected from surveys administered to Orlando Police officers who are participants in a randomized experiment evaluating the impact of body-worn cameras (Taser AXON Flex) in law enforcement.
Police Body Worn Cameras: A Mixed Method Approach Assessing Perceptions of Efficacy Few studies have been published on the use of BWCs and little is known about officer perceptions, administrator decision making, and agency use of BWC data. The current study presents a mixed-method study of a large university police agency prior to full implementation of BWC. Findings point to officer concerns regarding the utilization of BWC data and administrative expectations regarding complaint reduction and officer assessment.