The Pennybridge pioneers: understanding internal stakeholder perceptions of body-worn camera implementation

ABSTRACT

Since body-worn cameras (BWCs) were catapulted into mainstream discourse, they have diffused rapidly across police agencies in the United States. Research followed swiftly, providing a wealth of information about how the police and citizens make sense of these technologies. Moreover, we have learned how these technologies have impacted important policing outcomes, such as citizen complaints and the use of coercive force during citizen encounters. However, despite the growing body of research, very little is known about how police stakeholders make sense of the implementation of BWCs and about their decision-making throughout the implementation process. Therefore, this research examines the decision to implement BWCs in one mid-sized municipal police department in the United States through the lens of Rogers (2003) Diffusion of Innovations theoretical framework. We rely on semi-structured interviews and observations with 17 stakeholders to address this question. Our findings show that BWC technology generally posed little uncertainty for stakeholders in terms of what it could offer conceptually. However, because the agency was an early adopter, decision-makers were confronted with significant uncertainty about practical matters such as the financial and logistical costs of implementing the technology, in addition to policy creation. These findings have important implications for scholars and practitioners.

KEYWORDS:

• Police technology
• diffusion of innovations
• body-worn cameras
• implementation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marthinus C. Koen

Marthinus C. Koen., is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice within the Criminal Justice Department at the State University of New York at Oswego (SUNY Oswego) where he teaches classes concerning policing, research methods, and criminological theory. His research interests lie in police and prosecutorial organizational change, COVID-19, police technology, and criminal justice education. Dr. Koen’s most recent published works have focused on the impacts of body-worn cameras on police organizational structures, practices, accountability, and technological frames. Marthinus is also an editorial board member of the American Journal of Qualitative Research.

Bryce Clayton Newell

Bryce Clayton Newell is an Assistant Professor in the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon and a Researcher at Utrecht University School of Law. He received his Ph.D. in Information Science from the University of Washington and his J.D. from the University of California, Davis School of Law. His research examines the role and regulation of technology and surveillance in law enforcement contexts, issues of privacy and data protection law, and the information practices involved in humanitarian work with undocumented migrants in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands.

Melinda R. Roberts

Melinda R. Roberts, Professor in the School of Criminology and Security Studies, is Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana State University. She received her Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from Washington State University with areas of concentration in policing, courts, and law. Her research examines issues of victimology and social justice in the criminal justice system. Additionally, she has extensive expertise in criminal justice program evaluation.