The relationship between general policing attitudes and how officers perceive the potential advantages of body cameras

ABSTRACT

Many studies of police body cameras explored the officers’ attitudes towards their use. Much of this research examined the relationship between officers’ characteristics and their attitudes toward body cameras. Missing from the scholarship are measures of general policing attitudes and their impact on body camera attitudes. This study explored the possibility that officers’ positive attitudes toward body cameras are mediated by their outlooks toward law enforcement, perceptions of citizen cooperation, or levels of distrust of the public. A convenience sample of police officers from two Northeastern police agencies completed an online survey. Structural equation modeling indicates that officers with an orientation toward aggressive law enforcement are more likely to have a positive view of BWC effects on job performance and community relations. Officers with a positive outlook on citizen cooperation are more likely to have a positive view of BWC effects on job performance and community relations. Implications of these findings are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Police
• body cameras
• officers’ attitude

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. https://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/crimnet/ojsa/indexcrimes/county_totals.htm

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Dae-Young Kim

Dae-Young Kim is an assistant professor in the Criminal Justice Department at SUNY Buffalo State. His current research interests include political economy of crime and punishment, policy analysis and program evaluation, and evaluating problem-based learning. His work has appeared in journals such as Criminal Justice and Behavior, International Journal of Police Science and Management, The Prison Journal, Race and Justice, and SAGE Open.

Scott W. Phillips

Scott W. Phillips is a professor in the Criminal Justice Department at SUNY Buffalo State. He earned a PhD from SUNY Albany and his research focuses on empirical examinations of police officer decision-making and organizational influences on officer’s behavior. His works have appeared in Journal of Criminal Justice, Police Research and Practice, Criminal Justice Policy Review, Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, and Policing & Society. He has worked as the Futurist Scholar in Residence with the Behavioral Science Unit at the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

Joseph A. Gramaglia

Joseph A. Gramaglia has been a police officer since 1994. He has served as a patrol lieutenant, captain, and is now a command chief. He served on the Buffalo Police Department’s working group examining implementation and policy development for the use of body cameras in Buffalo.