In the past several years, police-community relations have received enormous scrutiny based on several high-profile incidents involving the use of deadly force. Politicians, civil societies, and victims' families have called for law enforcement agencies to equip local officers with body-worn cameras to increase transparency and accountability. The purpose of the study was to investigate how law enforcement officers in a Sheriff's office in the Southern United States perceived ease of use and usefulness of body-worn camera technology and to identify if gender and years of service related to police officers' acceptance of body-worn cameras as a component of their regular uniform. The theoretical foundation for this study was based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) developed by Davis in 1989. Paper survey using TAM instrument was used to collect data from officers at the training center. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine which independent variables predicted the frequency of use of body-worn cameras. Analysis of data collected from 88 officers found that their perceptions of the ease of use of body-worn cameras were moderately and positively correlated with their perceptions of the cameras' usefulness and their attitudes toward the camera. The relationship between usefulness and years of service was negative, indicating that as officers' length of service increased, their perceptions of body-worn cameras usefulness decreased. However, officers' attitudes toward using body-worn cameras were a predictor of their reported frequency of use. Findings from the study could contribute to positive social change by providing policymakers with new tools to craft training policies to enhance police-community relations.

Submitted by Melina Risso (melina.risso@gmail.com) on 2018-04-02T22:10:26Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Versão FINAL FECHADA@02abr18.pdf: 1702268 bytes, checksum: 5609f9b04f31ed38487e68828b056222 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Pamela Beltran Tonsa (pamela.tonsa@fgv.br) on 2018-04-04T22:56:24Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Versão FINAL FECHADA@02abr18.pdf: 1702268 bytes, checksum: 5609f9b04f31ed38487e68828b056222 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Suzane Guimarães (suzane.guimaraes@fgv.br) on 2018-04-05T13:51:03Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Versão FINAL FECHADA@02abr18.pdf: 1702268 bytes, checksum: 5609f9b04f31ed38487e68828b056222 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-05T13:51:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Versão FINAL FECHADA@02abr18.pdf: 1702268 bytes, checksum: 5609f9b04f31ed38487e68828b056222 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-03-02 / O presente estudo pretende contribuir com as análises sobre abordagem policial no contexto brasileiro, buscando identificar os sentidos atribuídos a esta prática por policiais militares no estado de São Paulo. A partir de uma perspectiva interpretativa, que no campo das políticas públicas está voltada à análise dos sentidos, o trabalho busca identificar e comparar os sentidos implícitos na formulação da política e também os sentidos atribuídos por seus implementadores, ou seja, os policiais da ponta da linha. Também pretende inferir em que medida a relação entre a polícia e a comunidade interfere na forma como o policial realiza a abordagem. A pesquisa se ancora nos conceitos de legitimidade e autoridade policial para discutir de que maneira estes aspectos são influenciados pela atual política de abordagem policial, que contabiliza mais de 14 milhões de abordagens realizadas anualmente sem avaliação crítica de sua efetividade. Foram utilizados métodos qualitativos baseados em entrevistas e análise documental. / This study aims to contribute to the analysis of police stop-and-frisk in the Brazilian context, seeking to identify the meanings attributed to this practice in the state of São Paulo. Using an interpretive approach, the work aims to identify and compare the meanings of the stop-and-frisk policy both in terms of its formulation and implementation. It also seeks to infer to what extent the relationship between the police and the community interferes with the way police officers implement stop-and-frisk policy. The research discusses how the current stop-and-frisk policy affects police officers’ authority and police legitimacy. Annually, the Military Police of the state of São Paulo conducts more than 14 million stop-and-frisks without critical evaluation of their effectiveness. Qualitative methods based on interviews and document analysis were used.