Body-worn video: A systematic review of literature
| Author | Gemma L Myers,Rebecca Lesic,Timothy IC Cubitt,Robert Corry |
| DOI | 10.1177/0004865816638909 |
| Published date | 01 September 2017 |
| Date | 01 September 2017 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Australian & New Zealand
Journal of Criminology
2017, Vol. 50(3) 379–396
Body-worn video: A systematic
! The Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/0004865816638909
Timothy IC Cubitt, Rebecca Lesic,
journals.sagepub.com/home/anj
Gemma L Myers and Robert Corry
New South Wales Police Force, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Abstract
Law enforcement use of video-based technology has substantially increased over the past
decade. This systematic review examines the current evidence base for efficacy of body-worn
video and the current case for implementation. Five articles were identified as pertinent to
this review from a search of five electronic databases, with a further six articles of grey
literature included. Inter-rater reliability was high amongst three independent screeners of
literature. Articles were short listed for review if they explicitly identified police and record-
ing devices as topic areas. Articles were then excluded if they did not involve an operational
trial of body-worn video. Eleven articles were included for review; of the five peer-reviewed
studies, two were randomised controlled trials. An abundance of evidence was provided;
however, the majority of articles were methodologically weak. Body-worn video was shown
to reduce use of force incidents, crime rates for certain crime types and court costs. Public
response to body-worn video was varied, as was police officer and public opinion. Due to
methodological limitations evident in most studies and the general lack of peer-reviewed
material, further research is required; however, there are some considerable benefits
reported in the current literature.
Keywords
Body-worn camera, body-worn video, misconduct, oversight, policing, review, technology
Background
Implementation and use of body-worn video (BWV) have grown considerably in the past
decade. Building on the closed-circuit television (CCTV) environment, the panopticon
posited by Foucault (1979) has become an increasing reality. Uptake amongst Western
law enforcement agencies has been particularly comprehensive, with the majority of
UK agencies currently featuring BWV (Rieken, 2013). Police departments in the
United States are similarly moving quickly to equip officers with this technology
(Miller, Toliver, & Police Executive Research Forum, 2014). Australian agencies have
chosen to delay implementation; however, with trials of BWV, interest in the technology
Corresponding author:
Timothy IC Cubitt, New South Wales Police Force, PO Box 2095, Redfern, Sydney, NSW 2016, Australia.
Email: cubi1tim@police.nsw.gov.au
380
Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology 50(3)
is high. Most Australian jurisdictions have previously trialled or are intending to per-
form a trial (Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2016; Northern Territory Police
Force, 2015; Queensland Government, 2015).
BWV has been noted as a solution to lost time in ‘red tape’ such as report writing in
the United Kingdom (Sherman, 2013). Accountability is featured as a positive com-
monly put forth by exponents of the technology. This is a noted outcome of recording
interactions with offenders, and also the commonly used GPS-enabled BWV technology
(Wain & Ariel, 2014). The potential for increased accountability and enhanced eviden-
tiary capability has garnered considerable media attention, despite use of BWV in court
only being a recent occurrence (Church v Commissioner of Police, 2015). The balance of
benefit and potential ethical and privacy issues has resulted in recommendations to
significantly limit scope of captured data initially, until the benefit is considered to justify
expansion of captured data (Mok, Cornish, & Tarr, 2015).
Theoretically, BWV has been discussed as a positive in several contexts. Head-
mounted cameras are considered to have significant benefits in various industries requir-
ing such equipment use, such as snow and motor sports (Brown, Dilley, & Marshall,
2008). Benefits have been noted in social research as a means of collecting continuous,
audio-visual data through interpersonal interaction (Brown et al., 2008). The use of a
‘visual memory prosthesis’ is also noted as a benefit in supporting memory of key events
(Hoisko, 2003). This factor translates strongly to law enforcement, which given the
noted effect that witnessing a traumatic event may have on memory retention (Lacy &
Stark, 2013), review of stimulus provided by BWV may be beneficial.
The use of cameras as a means of aiding investigations is not a recent addition to
policing; however, their use as an effective behavioural change mechanism has not con-
clusively been established. A meta-analysis of CCTV installations performed by Welsh
and Farrington (2002) found incongruent results. While it was found that CCTV had an
overall desirable impact on crime, the reductions were not significant. Despite no effect
being found on violent crimes, a significant effect was shown regarding vehicle crime
(Welsh & Farrington, 2002). A small impact upon crime rates is attributable to CCTV
implementation; however, it may be argued that this is a poor measure for effectiveness
(Gill & Spriggs, 2005). It is conversely clear that CCTV interventions are effective as a
deterrence to theft in a retail setting (Hayes & Downs, 2011); however, environmental
factors and CCTV line of sight are also salient in crime prevention and behavioural
change amongst offenders (Piza, Caplan, & Kennedy, 2014). There are a number of
factors addressed by BWV that CCTV does not, such as line of sight, environmental
factors and clarity of evidence gathering. Despite this, neither technology can been
conclusively found to be effective in behavioural change or crime reduction.
Despite the eagerness of law enforcement agencies to embrace BWV, there are con-
cerns surrounding available evidence for its efficacy. Given the nature of BWV, it may
reasonably be expected to have a measurable impact upon behaviour of both the com-
munity and officers themselves. In this way, efficacy may be measured through a number
of different factors. Primarily a reduction in complaints against police officers, particu-
larly use of force complaints (Adams et al., 1999; Taylor, Alpert, Kubu, Woods, &
Dunham, 2011), an increase in early guilty pleas (ODS Consulting, 2011), reductions
in assaults on police (Ellis, Jenkins, & Smith, 2015) and an increased perception of police
accountability (Katz, Choate, Ready, & Nuno, 2014) are reasonable measures of success.
Cubitt et al.
381
Measures such as these are often considered regarding CCTV (Goold, 2003); however,
with the salience of BWV, a larger effect is expected. While some measures may be
difficult to operationalise, literature around use of force (Adams et al., 1999), for exam-
ple, allows for an event to be deconstructed and measured with considerable reliability.
When evaluating the implementation of BWV in agencies thus far, the scarcity of
evidence is problematic (Mateescu, Rosenblat, & Boyd, 2015; Roy, 2014; White, 2014).
The paucity of current peer-reviewed material indicates a requirement for further research
in the area. While implementation in many places has already begun, research is quickly
catching up. Informed decision making as to the benefit of BWV is of great importance.
Studies concerning new technology and policies utilised by law enforcement agencies are
often reviewed by internal evaluations. As a result, it is unusual for these evaluations to be
subjected to peer review or to be featured publicly. The intention of this review is to collate
this grey literature and compare outcomes of such evaluations with peer-reviewed material
as a means of contributing to the growing field of knowledge on BWV.
Methods
Data sources
A literature search was conducted between July and August 2015. The following data-
bases were utilised in this literature search: EBSCO host search of International Security
& Counter Terrorism Reference Centre database, Psychology and Behavioral Science
Collection, Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text and SocINDEX with Full Text.
Reference lists formed part of the search, along with available grey literature, Google
and Google Scholar were also utilised. A timeframe of 1990–2015 was searched. Due to
the recent introduction of BWV, relevant articles were not likely to be available prior to
this time period.
Search terms and keywords in searches of all stated databases included: body-worn
camera; body-worn video; BWV; BWC; BWVC; body-worn cameras on police; body-
worn cameras for law enforcement; body-worn cameras and police use of force; body-
worn video devices; body cameras; wearable video devices in police work; wearable
video devices; and wearable camera.
Study selection
Several criteria were implemented in study selection, and the threshold for inclusion was
kept reasonably low. This threshold was designed to capture as much peer-reviewed
material as possible for review. Selection was performed via standardised unblinded assess-
ment by three reviewers. Inter-rater reliability was high; however, protocol was in place for
consensus inclusion in the event of disagreement. Studies were selected through database
search, and initial identification of relevance through abstract review. Abstracts were
excluded in the event that they failed to explicitly identify police and recording devices
as topic areas. Remaining articles were short listed for full text review.
Studies retained for full text analysis were...
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