The History, Policy Implications, and Knowledge Gaps of the CCTV Literature: Insights for the Development of Body-Worn Video Camera Research

• Date: 01 September 2021
• Published date: 01 September 2021
• Author: Eric L. Piza
• DOI: 10.1177/1057567718759583
• Subject Matter: Additional Articles on Police

Additional Article on Police

The History, Policy

Implications, and Knowledge

Gaps of the CCTV Literature:

Insights for the Development

of Body-Worn Video Camera

Research

Eric L. Piza

1

Abstract

Closed-circuit television (CCTV) and body-worn video cameras (BWVCs) have rapidly spread

throughout policing. Such widespread deployment has heightened the importance of identifying best

practices for both of these technologies. The research community has worked toward the identi-

fication of such best practices, with bodies of knowledge emerging for both CCTV and BWVCs over

recent decades. Given its earlier emergence, research on CCTV is more developed. Nonetheless,

the BWVC literature is quickly becoming robust, with BWVC research developing at a much more

rapid pace than research on most other police technologies. This essay reviews the CCTV and

BWVC literatures across four main areas of inquiry: (1) program effect and common outcome mea-

sures,(2)contextual factors influencing program effect, (3) intervention costs, and (4) implementation

issues. Specific attention is paid to knowledge gaps within the CCTV literature and how BWVC

research can avoid (or, in certain cases, already has avoided) similar knowledge gaps.

Keywords

body-worn video cameras, BWVC , closed-circuit television, CCTV, evidence-based policing, police

technology

The Proliferation of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) and Body-Worn Video Cameras in

Policing

Video-recording technologies have rapidly spread throughout law enforcement over recent

decades. Phillips (1999) conducted the first review of CCTV research, documenting evaluations

1

John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, New York City, NY, USA

Corresponding Author:

Eric L. Piza, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, 524 W. 59th Street, HaarenHall, Room 636.15,

New York City, NY 10019, USA.

Email: epiza@jjay.cuny.edu

International CriminalJustice Review

2021, Vol. 31(3) 304-324

ª2018 Georgia State University

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/1057567718759583

journals.sagepub.com/home/icj

dating as far back as 1978 (Burrows, 1978; Musheno, Levine, & Palumbo, 1978). The time since has

seenadramaticincreaseintheuseofCCTVasacrime prevention tool. By 2002, estimates

suggested the presence of over 4.2 million cameras in the United Kingdom, a ratio of 1 per every

14 citizens (Norris & McCahill, 2006). Enthusiasm for CCTV spread to the United States, as 49%of

local police departments report using CCTV, with usage increasing to 87%for agencies serving

jurisdictions with populations of 250,000 or more (Reaves, 2015). The last several years have seen

the emergence of another video-recording technology in policing: body-worn video cameras

(BWVCs). BWVCs have been adopted rapidly, with nearly a third of police agencies in the United

States reporting implementing the technology as of 2013 (Reaves, 2015). While similar estimates are

not available in other countries, evaluations have been conducted in England (Ellis, Jenkins, &

Smith, 2015; Grossmith et al., 2015; Owens, Mann, & McKenna, 2014), Scotland (ODS Consulting,

2011), and Norway (Phelps, Strype, Le Bellu, Lahlou, & Aandal, 2016), suggesting BWVC use is

international in scope.

In addition to their popularity, BWVC and CCTV share similarities in terms of their assumed

causal mechanisms. Both BWVC and CCTV are rooted in deterrence theory (Ariel, Sutherland,

Henstock, Young, & Sosinski, 2017), with their presence expected to convince potential offenders to

desist from engaging in delinquent behavior. In this sense, the deterrence effect of BWVC and

CCTV can be considered situational, contingent on the individual experiencing a requisite level of

fear in the presence of situational risks (Cusson, 1993). As such, the causal mechanisms of both

BWVC and CCTV cannot be put into play if the cameras are not recognized by potential offenders

(Ariel, Farrar, & Sutherland, 2015). Subsequently, potential offenders must perceive that the pres-

ence of cameras significantly increase s the likelihood of apprehension in respo nse to crime or

delinquency (Gannoni, Willis, Taylor, & Lee, 2017; Gill & Loveday, 2003).

This article focuses on the intersection of the CCTV and BWVC research literatures. It begins

with a discussion of evidence-based policing and evaluations of criminal justice technologies, high-

lighting the challenges inherent in generating “transferable lessons” for police-implemented tech-

nology. The subsequent sections discuss these challenges in the context of the CCTV and BWVC

literatures. The primary aim is to in form the developing BWVC research ag enda, highlighting

opportunities to advance the current body of knowledge in a manner that leads to fewer knowledge

gaps than what was experienced in the CCTV literature. Tangentially, I hope to also highlight

opportunities to further develop CCTV research.

Evidence-Based Policing and Video Surveillance Technology

Contemporary criminology has seen increased calls for the use of scientific evidence in the

formation of public policy. Policing has been at the forefront of this movement, with evidence-

based policing receiving considerable attention in both the academic and the practitioner commu-

nities (Sherman, 1998; Sherman, Farrington, Welsh, & Mackenzie, 2002). Scholars have garnered

support for evidence-based policing by drawing comparisons to evidence-based medicine, in which

practitioners have advanced training in the scientific method, kept up to date with the most recent

research evidence, and used rigorous research findings to guide medical practices (Sherman, 1998).

Others, conversely, have noted that such a description of medical research is overly narrow, given

the emphasis on the full range of considerations invo lved in medical treatment (Greene, 2014;

Sparrow, 2011). In addition to outcomes (i.e., whether or not the treatment worked), medical

research uses multiple methodological and interpretive approaches to explain procedural aspects

of treatment such as physician–client interaction, unintended side effects, and the practice of treat-

ment delivery (Greene, 2014). Hence, some scholars have argued that evidence-based policing’s

stringent focus on program effect can constrain the development of tangible policy implications

(Clear, 2010; Sparrow, 2011).

Piza 305