Body-Worn Cameras and Citizen Interactions with Police Officers: Estimating Plausible Effects Given Varying Compliance Levels
Abstract
Recent citizen deaths involving police use of force have increased discussion surrounding police accountability and community relations. One piece of this discussion is the use of body worn cameras (BWCs) by officers. Unfortunately, little rigorous research has been conducted to estimate the effectiveness of BWCs in reducing problematic police-citizen interactions. In this paper, we estimate two measures of effectiveness of BWCs by comparing incidents that occur in a squad assigned cameras to incidents that occur in a squad assigned control. First, we estimate the effect of being assigned a BWC (but not necessarily using the camera) on reducing complaints and resistance associated with incidents. Second, we employ data on BWC use to estimate the effect of cameras if they were used with full compliance. Together, these two estimates provide a plausible range of effectiveness that policymakers can expect from BWCs. We find that BWCs have no effect on the rate of arrest or resistance, but can substantially reduce complaints.
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The self-awareness effect of BWCs is conditional on the extent to which the cameras are activated.
“The self-awareness effect of BWCs is conditional on the extent to which the cameras are activated (Hedberg et al. 2017; Taylor 2016; Young and Ready 2016)”
From Paradoxical effects of self-awareness of being observed: testing the effect of police body-worn cameras on assaults and aggression against officers (2018) · cites this paper as Hedberg et al. 2017
Some departments fully complied with control conditions but failed to comply with treatment conditions, giving officers discretion to use BWCs how and when they deemed fit during treatment.
“full compliance with the protocol in terms of control conditions, but failure to comply with the terms of treatment conditions. Despite the evidence against this policy (see Hedberg et al. 2017; Roy 2014), some departments gave officers the discretion to use BWCs how and when they deemed fit during treatment condition”
From Paradoxical effects of self-awareness of being observed: testing the effect of police body-worn cameras on assaults and aggression against officers (2018) · cites this paper as Hedberg et al. 2017
Many law enforcement departments have struggled with officers' failure to activate BWCs.
“As BWCs have spread in law enforcement, many departments have struggled with their officers' failure to activate the devices (Boivin et al., 2022;Hedberg et al., 2017;Lawrence et al., 2019).”
From An Officer-Level Examination of the Prevalence and Correlates of Police Body-Worn Camera Activation (2025) · cites this paper as Hedberg et al., 2017
If BWCs are employed as described (i.e., 100% activation compliance), a majority of complaints against officers would be eliminated.
“Hedberg et al. (2017) concluded “if BWCs are employed as described [i.e., 100% activation compliance], a majority of complaints against officers would be eliminated” (p.642).”
From An Officer-Level Examination of the Prevalence and Correlates of Police Body-Worn Camera Activation (2025) · cites this paper as Hedberg et al. (2017)
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Ariel, B., Sutherland, A., Henstock, D., Young, J., Drover, P., Sykes, J., Megicks, S., & Henderson, R. (2018) · Journal of Experimental Criminology · doi:10.1007/s11292-017-9311-5 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
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Evaluating the effectiveness of a police department’s early intervention system
James, S., James, L., & Dotson, L. (2021) · Journal of Experimental Criminology · doi:10.1007/s11292-019-09397-8 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
An Officer-Level Examination of the Prevalence and Correlates of Police Body-Worn Camera Activation
Huff, J., White, M. D., Malm, A. E., & Katz, C. M. (2025) · Police Quarterly · doi:10.1177/10986111241241751 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Self-citationBraga, A. A., MacDonald, J. M., & McCabe, J. E. (2024) · Criminology & Public Policy · doi:10.1111/1745-9133.12679 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
- Authors
- Hedberg, E. C., Katz, C. M., & Choate, D. E.
- Affiliations
- University of Chicago (US)
- Arizona State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Katz, Charles M.
- Venue
- Justice Quarterly
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2016-07-11
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 627-651
- ISSN
- 0741-8825 (ISSN-L)
- 1745-9109
- OpenAlex
- W2471201607
- Cited by
- 168
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 47 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 3
- FWCI
- 89.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Justice Quarterly (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Bureau of Justice Assistance (2011-DB-BX-0018)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Policing Practices and Perceptions
- Social Sciences › Law › Criminal Law and Evidence
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Deception detection and forensic psychology
- Keywords
- body-worn cameras, police accountability, police-citizen interaction, police use of force, citizen complaints, police-community relations, arrest rates
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