Police Chiefs, Organizational Justice, and Body-Worn Cameras: A Key to Releasing Video Footage

Abstract

This study addresses a missing link in the organizational justice literature—a police chief's trust in their officers. Most organizational and procedural justice studies examine these concepts from an officer's perspective, but fail to capture how leaders perceive their officers. Trust, however, is a relational concept, which implies there might be effects of a leader's trust in their officers. This study addresses if a police chief's level of trust in officers will affect their behavior as related to the release of body-worn camera footage. Body-worn cameras have been adopted across the United States and all over the world. However, if the footage they capture is rarely shared, cameras impact will be minimal. The findings suggest that if a chief has higher levels of trust in their officers, then the chief's willingness to release footage is increased, potentially leading to an improved relationship between law enforcement and communities.