Leading an Experiment in Police Body-Worn Video Cameras

Abstract

Body-worn video (BWV) is seen internationally as having the potential to reduce public complaints against police, police use of force, and attrition of prosecutions due to lack of physical evidence. Beyond the Cambridge trial in Rialto, California, however, no studies have tested the effects of BWV. The present study documents a Police leaders’ implementation of a randomized controlled trial of the use of BWV. The main objectives are to identify the challenges to implementing a trial and identify how they were overcome. The solutions to these challenges may provide key lessons for police leaders, not only as they undertake evidence-based testing, but also as they manage police operations and implement change.