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Introduction
In the wake of increased media attention surrounding several questionable interactions between police officers and citizens in recent years, policing has come under increased scrutiny from the public and the media. Some members of the public feel as though the police are rarely held to account for their actions, oftentimes because the only evidence is conflicting testimony from the citizen and the officer involved in the encounter. To enhance the legitimacy of the police, law enforcement agencies are increasingly implementing body-worn cameras (BWCs) to provide video evidence of what transpired during police-citizen encounters. Theoretically, if officers and citizens know they are being recorded, BWCs should alter their behavior. Furthermore, the video footage can potentially provide objective evidence to substantiate the claims of citizens who accuse the police of wrongdoing and the claims of officers who are wrongfully accused.
While many of the most recent - and highly publicized - interactions between police and community members have occurred in the USA (e.g. Philandro Castile, Keith Scott, Sylville Smith), the use of BWCs as a policy solution is not limited to the USA. In fact, police forces in the UK, Australia, and Canada - among others - have all adopted BWC technology. Although a growing number of police forces are adopting BWCs, only a handful of peer-reviewed scientific studies have been published as of January 2017. And, although there are a relatively small number of studies that have been published on this topic, there are some consistent and interesting findings that have emerged from the BWC literature.
The current study provides a narrative review of the effects of BWCs within policing, specifically examining the impact that BWCs have had on both officers and citizens.
Current study
The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, we review the extant BWC literature, and we focus on presenting the major findings and trends that have emerged from the research. Second, we discuss directions for future research and identify methodological issues that are still in need of being addressed. Third, we conclude by highlighting policy challenges that can be gleaned from these studies and that need to be addressed going forward.
Methods
English language publications were identified using a search of several academic databases (i.e. Criminal Justice Abstracts, EBSCO Host,...