Recently, police legitimacy has come under attack due to ongoing allegations of police use of excessive force. In line with national efforts to modernize police services, body-worn cameras have been positioned as a promising response to reconstructing police legitimacy due to their potential to provide greater transparency and accountability (Brucato, 2015). Despite the rapid and extensive adoption of body-worn cameras by North American police services (Brucato, 2015), there is a great deal of uncertainty regarding effective policy, implementation and expected outcomes. As it stands, the current research that examines the impact of body-worn cameras on citizen complaints and police use of force presents a narrow understanding of their use. Existing research calls for future studies to examine officer perceptions of body-worn cameras in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of their value and impact (Boyd, Mateescu & Rosenblat, 2015). As such, the primary research objective of this study is to understand how police officers perceive the use of body-worn cameras. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with police officers from the Toronto Police Service. By drawing on Orlikowski and Gash’s (1994) technological frames of reference framework, the study concludes that officers felt that both of the BWC models during the pilot project were inadequate, were skeptical about the potential of BWCs due to the belief that BWCs are a tool primarily used to “keep an eye on the police”, believed that BWCs impact officer and citizen conduct in ways that can potentially harm police-community relationships, and reported using BWCs to gain greater control over police visibility. Recommendations for training and body-worn camera program development are presented at the end of the study, along with directions for future research.

A need for more transparency and accountability of police misconduct was obvious from citizen' complaints and media coverage of inhumane actions of law enforcement offers unequipped with body-worn cameras (BWCs). With the fatalities of citizens by law enforcement on the rise, it was incumbent upon the officials in two communities to deliver measures to improve citizens' perceptions of police officers' use of BWCs and how much trust the citizens have in the use of these instruments, as a whole. The purpose of this study was to explore citizens' confidence levels, sense of safety, and perception of civility when police officers use body cameras. The two research questions asked how has being made aware of the usage of BWCs by law enforcement impacted the perception of rural area citizens, and what is the perception of law enforcement officers' usage of BWCs among rural area citizens? The theoretical framework for this study was the self-awareness theory. Data were collected via interviews The data were collected and coded for analysis. Coded data were generated from responses in face to face interviews of participants. Themes were developed from key words in the context and word repetition. Seven main themes were created. The findings of the research show that the usage of body-worn cameras is wanted by citizens in small rural cities and the citizens have a positive perception of officers who utilize body-worn cameras. The results of the study have substantial implication for social change and suggest the people are calling for the use of BWC's by law enforcement officers to aid in increased transparency and trust in police officers on patrol. By carrying out this research, I was able to validate the perception of the citizens.

Body worn cameras (BWCs) are a newer piece of equipment that has been issued to police officers in efforts to increase transparency and improve relations with the community. Researchers who have just recently begun studying the effects of BWCs have observed changes in behavior of officers who wear the equipment. Some of these changes potentially have an adverse effect on citizens and the officers who wear BWCs. Lipsky's street-level bureaucracy theory was utilized to examine police officer use of discretion when conducting field activities while wearing BWCs. The research question pertained to police officers' perceptions regarding changes in behavior while being video recorded on duty. This study used generic qualitative inquiry to understand five police officers' perceptions through individual semi structured interviews complemented by the responsive interview model. Themes that emerged consisted of implementation, personal harm, privacy, and behavior modification. Notable findings under the theme of implementation included lack of initial acceptance of the equipment followed by approval of the equipment after use; and that initial training of BWCs was deemed insufficient. In the personal harm theme, participants expressed concern over functionality of BWCs and that superiors possibly would use footage for punitive reasons. Minimal privacy issues for officers were discovered; however, use of BWCs in private residences was perceived by participants as a concern for citizens. The most significant behavior modification was increased professionalism. Implications for social change include improved officer and citizen safety and the delivery of more effective police services, improving relations with the community.

abstract: Police departments have perceived improved citizen behavior to be a benefit of body-worn cameras (BWC) since their implementation. Often referred to as a civilizing effect, the idea that citizens will become calmer when they know that they are being recorded by an officer is rooted in deterrence theory and self-awareness theory. Deterrence theory states that people will behave properly when they believe punishment will be swift, certain, and severe, while self-awareness theory states that individuals cognizant of their place in society model their actions based on social norms. The presence of a BWC, though, does not guarantee that the citizen is aware they are being recorded. Citizen awareness of the BWC and activation of the BWC are necessary pre-conditions to improved behavior. Current evidence is mixed regarding if BWCs are a catalyst for improved citizen behavior, which is typically measured through reductions in use of force by police and citizen complaints. Using data collected through systematic social observation during police ride-alongs, the author will seek to determine: 1) How often BWCs are activated in police-citizen encounters, 2) How often citizens are aware of BWCs in these encounters, 3) How often citizen behavior changes positively following BWC awareness, and 4) How often citizen behavior changes independent of BWC awareness. This study expands on current research by examining the civilizing effect of BWCs from a transactional standpoint and how citizen behavior changes within an officer-citizen encounter, rather than using a post-interaction metric such as use of force. Despite high BWC activation compliance among the officers within this study, no evidence was found for BWCs having a civilizing effect as the pre-condition of citizen awareness was rarely satisfied. These results could shape policies within departments implementing BWCs hoping to improve officer safety and community relations. Mandatory notification would satisfy the pre-condition of citizen awareness, allowing for the BWC to potentially have a civilizing effect. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Criminology and Criminal Justice 2020

This research sought to understand the potential association between officer perceptions of organizational justiceand officer perceptions of body-worn cameras (BWCs). A questionnaire was administered to a convenience sample of 362 officersfrom the 750 sworn personnel from the Richmond Police Department in Richmond, VA, yielding a response rate of 91% and representing 44% of the Richmond Police Department’s sworn employees. This study extends prior work by partially replicating a previous BWC survey conducted by leading body-worn camera scholars, utilizing a large sample from an urban mid-Atlantic police department. This study also extends prior work on officer perceptions of organizational justice by examining officer perceptions of personal behavior modifications motivated by BWCs. Findings indicate that officers had positive general perceptions of BWCs but did not perceive that their own behavior would change due to wearing a BWC. Officers reported high perceptions of self-legitimacy and mixed perceptions of organizational justice; for example, although three quarters of respondents (74.6%) felt that command staff generally treats employees with respect, less than a third felt command staff explained the reasons for their decisions (29.1%) and that employees had a voice in agency decisions (29.7%), indicating areas for improvement in agency communication. Exploratory factor analysis yielded three separate organizational justice factors: procedural justice, distributive justice, and interactional justice. Regression analyses indicated that only procedural justice had a significant association with officers’ general perceptions of BWCs after controlling for officer demographics and perceptions of self-legitimacy (β = .20, p < .001), and there were no significant correlations between officer perceptions of organizational justice constructs and their perceptions of personal behavior modification motivated by BWCs. Policy recommendations include quarterly command staff attendance at precinct roll calls to improve internal department communication and an evaluation of the promotion process to improve officer perceptions of organizational justice. Practitioner/researcher partnerships are recommended to realize the full potential of BWC video data in improving department training and policies.

abstract: Discretion is central to policing. The way officers use their discretion is influenced by situational, officer, and neighborhood-level factors. Concerns that discretion could be used differentially across neighborhoods have resulted in calls for increased police transparency and accountability. Body-worn cameras (BWCs) have been promoted to further these goals through increasing oversight of police-citizen encounters. The implication is that BWCs will increase officer self-awareness and result in more equitable outcomes. Prior researchers have largely evaluated the direct impact of BWCs. Researchers have yet to examine the potential for BWCs to moderate the influence of neighborhood context in individual incidents. To address this gap, I use Phoenix Police Department data collected as part of a three-year randomized-controlled trial of BWCs to examine variation in police discretion. These data include over 1.5 million police-citizen contacts nested within 826 officers and 388 neighborhoods. I examine two research questions. First, how do proactivity, arrests, and use of force vary depending on situational, officer, and neighborhood contexts? This provides a baseline for my next research question. Second, examining the same contexts and outcomes, do BWCs moderate the influence of neighborhood factors on police behavior? As such, I examine the untested, though heavily promoted, argument that BWCs will reduce the influence of extralegal factors on officer behavior. Using cross-classified logistic regression models, I found that situational, officer, and neighborhood factors all influenced proactivity, arrest, and use of force. BWCs were associated with a lower likelihood of proactivity, but an increased likelihood of arrest and use of force. Officers were more proactive and were more likely to conduct arrests in immigrant and Hispanic neighborhoods. The moderating effects suggest that officers were even more likely to proactively initiate contacts and conduct arrests in immigrant and Hispanic neighborhoods when BWCs were activated. However, after BWCs were deployed, use of force was significantly less likely to occur in black neighborhoods. Given that high-profile police use of force incidents involving black suspects are often cited as a major impetus for the adoption of BWCs in American police agencies, this finding is a key contribution to the literature. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Criminology and Criminal Justice 2020

No description available.

Several questionable officer involved shootings and perceived abuses of authority disproportionately involving minority citizens have resulted in public outcry, protests, and nationwide scrutiny of police in recent years. The resulting police legitimacy crisis has prompted agencies to rapidly equip officers with body-worn video cameras (BWCs). BWC advocates lauded the findings of an early study that attributed significant reductions in use of force incidents and citizen complaints to the devices and it is this and a handful of other short-term studies upon which the claims of these benefits are predicated. However, subsequent research has produced mixed findings and the sustainability of any reductions remains questionable. The limited knowledge concerning the impact of BWCs on the aforementioned outcomes is problematic considering the potential negative impact of unrealistic expectations and the expense of BWC program maintenance. The objective of this dissertation is to address gaps in the extant research by exploring the impact of an incremental deployment of the devices on the frequency and severity of use of force incidents and the frequency and outcome of citizen complaints while controlling for staffing, volume of officer-initiated enforcement contacts, and the Ferguson incident. Utilizing 86-months of secondary data collected from the Newport News, Virginia Police Department (NNPD) a vector autoregressive multivariate time series analysis indicates that BWCs were a significant factor in a substantial sustained reduction in use of force and a substantial sustained increase in exonerated complaint dispositions at the NNPD.

American policing is shaped by an array of challenges. Police are expected to address crime and engage the community, yet police are held to higher expectations of accountability, effectiveness, and efficiency than ever before. Police legitimacy is the ability of the police to exercise their authority in the course of maintaining order, resolving conflicts, and solving problems (PERF, 2014). The procedural justice and police legitimacy literature suggest that by exhibiting procedurally just behaviors within police-citizen encounters, officers are considered legitimate by the public (PERF, 2014; Tyler, 2004, Tyler & Jackson, 2012). This study examines procedural justice through systematic observations of police-citizen encounters recorded by body worn cameras in one mid-Atlantic police agency. The four elements of procedural justice (participation, neutrality, dignity and respect, and trustworthiness) are assessed to examine police behavior and its outcomes. The research questions concern how police acting in procedurally just ways may influence citizen behaviors. Descriptive statistics indicate high levels of procedural justice. Regression analyses suggest that procedural justice may predict positive citizen behaviors within police-citizen encounters. This study highlights the significance of procedural justice as an antecedent to police legitimacy and offers a new mode of observation: body worn camera footage.

The Internet of Things (IoTs) has triggered rapid advances in sensors, surveillance devices, wearables and body area networks with advanced Human-Computer Interfaces (HCI). Neural Networks optimized algorithmically for high accuracy and high representation power are very deep and require tremendous storage and processing capabilities leading to higher area and power costs. For developing smart front-ends for ‘always on’ sensor nodes we need to optimize for power and area. This requires considering trade-offs with respect to various entities such as resource utilization, processing time, area, power, accuracy etc. Our experimental results show that there is presence of a network configuration with minimum energy given the input constraints of an application in consideration. This presents the need for a hardware-software co-design approach. We present a highly parameterized hardware design on an FPGA allowing re-configurability and the ability to evaluate different design choices in a short amount of time. We also describe the capability of extending our design to offer run time configurability. This allows the design to be altered for different applications based on need and also allows the design to be used as a cascaded classifier beneficial for continuous sensing for low power applications. This thesis aims to evaluate the use of Restricted Boltzmann Machines for building such re-configurable low power front ends. We develop the hardware architecture for such a system and provide experimental results obtained for the case study of Posture detection for body worn cameras used for law enforcement.