Police Officer and Supervisor Perceptions of Body-Worn Cameras Pre- and Postimplementation: The Importance of Officer Buy-in

• Author: Jamie A. Snyder,Matthew S. Crow,John Ortiz Smykla
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016819846223
• Published date: 01 September 2019
• Date: 01 September 2019
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Police Officer and Supervisor

Perceptions of Body-Worn

Cameras Pre- and

Postimplementation:

The Importance of Officer Buy-in

Jamie A. Snyder

1

, Matthew S. Crow

2

, and John Ortiz Smykla

3

Abstract

Body-worn cameras (BWCs) are increasingly more common in their use among police officers.

Research on BWCs is the focus of an increasing number of studies seeking information on stake-

holder perceptions and the impact of the technology on behavior and other related outcomes.

Although the emerging research is mixed, several studies find that officers have concerns about the

use of BWCs and may not fully support their use. The current study utilizes survey data from two

Southern police departments. Police officers and supervisors were surveyed on their perceptions of

BWCs prior to the implementation of BWCs, then again after their implementation. The analysis

focuses on changes in perceptions before and after BWC implementation and examines the impact

of respondent rank on perceptions. Overall, perceptions became more positive toward BWCs after

the implementation; however, differences emerged when considering rank. Respondents at the

supervisor rank expressed significantly less concern and more support for BWCs than those at the

officer level after implementation. These results are discussed in the context of the importance of

officer support and buy-in for BWCs. Policy suggestions and future directions are also discussed.

Keywords

law enforcement/security, police culture/accountability, police processes

Police body-worn cameras (BWCs) are sweeping the country and becoming standard equipment for

police officers. In 2016, 93%of 70 major city police chiefs and county sheriffs indicated that they

are either using or plan to use BWCs in the near future (Lafayette Group, 2015). Additionally, the

1

Department of Criminal Justice and Sociology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA

2

Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL, USA

3

School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA

Corresponding Author:

Jamie A. Snyder, Department of Criminal Justice and Sociology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Ave., Laramie,

WY 82072, USA.

Email: jsnyde29@uwyo.edu

Criminal Justice Review

2019, Vol. 44(3) 322-338

ª2019 Georgia State University

Article reuse guidelines:

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DOI: 10.1177/0734016819846223

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Bureau of Justice Assistance (2016) reported that between 4,000 and 6,000 police and sheriff

departments across the United States either use BWCs or indicated they plan to use them. Consid-

ering this proliferation in BWC interest, a growing body of research is being devoted to examining

police BWCs. Studies to date focus largely on outcomes of using BWCs, such as changes in use of

force, effects on evidence collection, crime reporting, reduction in citizen complaints, and impacts

on prosecution and case processing (Ariel, 2016; Ariel et al., 2017; Ariel, Farrar, & Sutherland,

2015; Bellin & Pemberton, 2018; Fan, 2016; Hedberg, Katz, & Choate, 2017; Jennings, Lynch, &

Fridell, 2015; Katz, Choate, Ready, & Nuno, 2014; Morrow, Katz, & Choate, 2016; White, Gaub, &

Todak, 2017). Fewer studies have examined specific community and general public perceptions of

BWCs (Crow, Snyder, Crichlow, & Smykla, 2017; Culhane, Boman, & Schweitzer, 2016; Demir,

2018; Lawrence, Peterson, & Thompson, 2018; Sousa, Miethe, & Sakiyama, 2017; White, Todak, &

Gaub, 2017), the challenges of imp lementing a BWC program (Sousa, Co ldren, Rodriguez, &

Braga, 2016), or detainees’ perceptions of the capacities of BWCs to deliver promised increased

levels of accountability in policing (Lee, Taylor, & Willis, 2018).

One of the more frequently researched BWC topics is officers’ attitudes toward BWCs (Lum,

Stoltz, Koper, & Scherer, 2019). A number of studies examine officer opinions generally (Goetschel

& Peha, 2017; Gramagila & Phillips, 2017; Jennings, Fridell, & Lynch, 2014; Katz et al., 2014),

while others compare officer perceptions pre- and postdeployment of cameras (Guab, Choate,

Todak, Katz, & White, 2016; Pelfrey & Keener, 2018; White, Todak, & Gaub, 2018). While it is

vital to understand the potential impact of BWCs on actions such as use of force and court outcomes

and the concerns that officers have with BWCs (White, 2014), it is also important to gain a better

understanding of the perceptions of officers across different ranks, something that heretofore has

been rarely reported in the body of BWC research. Successful implementation of a BWC program is

likely to be influenced by the perceptions and acceptance of both officers and supervisors, as both

expectations for how BWCs will impact police work and experiences using the technology are likely

to differ across rank. Most of the prior research has examined either officer perceptions (Gramagila

& Phillips, 2017; Jennings et al., 2014; Lum et al., 2019) or leadership perceptions (Smykla, Crow,

Crichlow, & Snyder, 2016) separately. Only one study could be located (Pelfrey & Keener, 2018)

that examined both officer and supervisor perceptions within a campus police department before

implementation and examined how perceptions changed postimplementation. The differences in

perceptions were examined via focus groups with each officer type but did not include quantitative

analysis by rank (Pelfrey & Keener, 2018).

The current study seeks to contribute to the literature on BWCs by examining both officer and

supervisor perceptions of BWCs both pre- and postdeployment. Specifically, officers and super-

visors in two Southern municipal police departments were surveyed on their perceptions approxi-

mately 6 months prior to full BWC deployment and again approximately 6 months after full

deployment.

Literature Review

Perceptions of BWCs by Police

Previous studies on officer perceptions have found generally positive views of the potential benefits

of BWCs (Lum et al., 2019). For example, an early analysis of officer perceptions by Jennings,

Fridell, and Lynch (2014) reported that over half of officers surveyed in Orlando indicated support

for the use of BWCs. Similar levels of support were also found among a sample of police in

leadership positions across multiple agencies in one Southern state (Smykla et al., 2016). In these

and other studies, officers appear to have optimistic views regarding the potential effects of BWCs

on several outcomes. Examples include evidence collection, improvements in citizens’ behavior,

Snyder et al. 323