Accountability at its Finest: Law Enforcement Agencies and Body-Worn Cameras

Abstract

Policy makers and police departments have suggested the implementation of body-worn cameras (BWC) to increase officer accountability. BWC may be a contributing factor in altering police officers’ behavior, beyond use of force statistics and citizen complaints. Its impact on reported property crimes and violent crimes is yet to be explored. To examine this topic more meticulously, the authors estimate a difference-in-difference estimation on the effect of the adoption of BWC technology on reported property and violent crime in Washington D.C. This study finds that BWC implementation leads to a 9% reduction in reported property crimes but no effect for reported violent crimes. These results lend important application for accountability literature, policymakers and legislators, including the impact of policy tools on bureaucratic decision making and the development of new accountability standards that include BWC.

Keywords:

• Accountability
• body worn cameras
• crime
• policy

Notes

1 The first district encompasses the area near the city's business and political center. The Second District covers much of the Northwest quadrant of the District of Columbia. The Third District is located in the Northwest quadrant, near the center of the city. The Fourth District covers the upper Northwest (east of Rock Creek Park) and Northeast quadrants of the city. The Fifth District covers much of the Northeast quadrant of the city. It includes an interesting and diverse mix of neighborhoods, including Brookland, Ivy City, Trinidad and Woodridge. The Sixth District covers portions of the Northeast (east of the Anacostia River) and Southeast quadrants of the city. The Seventh District covers much of the Southeast quadrant of the city, including the neighborhoods of Anacostia, Barry Farm, Naylor Gardens and Washington Highlands

2 The author additionally ran Wild Clustered Bootstrapped Standard Errors and obtained nearly identical estimates

Additional information

Notes on contributors

James E. Wright

James E. Wright II is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at Florida State University.

Brittany Houston

Brittany Houston is a Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at Florida State University.