The first comprehensive scientific study on the cameras of the police has shown that technology can significantly reduce the use of excessive force by officers and complaints against officers by the public.
The first complete scientific study of experience with police body-worn cameras was published by the Journal of Quantitative Criminology. The trial took place in Rialto, Calif., during a period of 12 months and is showing very promising results. Officers wearing camera devices experienced a 59% drop in their use of force, while the complaints against them have dropped by a massive 87% compared to the previous year. Police quarters were assigned as experimental random (with camera) or control (without camera), totalling more than 50000 hours of police-public interactions.
According to the researchers, when people are registered, it generates a "consciousness" for everyone. Knowing a third party could later observe their actions - potentially a judicial court or the public - will change their behavior and become less confrontational. This makes the video focused on the "preventive treatment" body that could broadcast or even stop completely volatile to escalate situations. It is applicable both to abusive behaviour toward police and the use of excessive force by the police.
Dr. Barak Ariel, of the Institute of Cambridge University's Criminology (IOC): "with institutionalised the use on the camera body, an officer is required to issue a warning at the outset that the meeting is filmed, an impact on the psyche of all stakeholders by passing a simple pragmatic message: we are all monitored on videotape and should follow the rules".
"Subcultures of the police force illegitimate responses are likely to be affected by the cameras, because fault can not go unnoticed-. An external set of standards of conduct is applied and respected through the cameras public police encounters become more transparent and the curtain of silence that protects fault can more easily be unveiled, making it less likely to fault "."
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Tests are now being replicated by 30 forces around the world - including the London Metropolitan police, West Yorkshire forces, Ireland North, Uruguay and elsewhere in the United States. In the wake of several highly publicized incidents, the Maison Blanche earlier this month promised $ 263 million in additional federal funding for the training of the police and cameras, with $ 75 million specifically allocated for the purchase of 50,000 body cameras. New discoveries are due to be announced at the IOC Conference for police in Evidence-Based in July 2015. The first signs seem to match the Rialto success, showing that worn on the body-video cameras have a major positive impact on interactions between agents and civilians.
However, the research team would like to sound a note of caution. Just like with any new revolutionary technology, more needs to be known about the full effects and the legal ramifications. Before departments are "defeated in" by adopting, vital questions which should be answered like how these devices could influence the outcome of the charge.
"Historically, the testimony of agent intervention hearing conducted huge weight," explains Ariel. "But the prevalence of video could lead to a reluctance to pursue when there is no evidence of doors on the body cameras to corroborate the testimony of one officer, or even a victim."
There are also storage problems, security, privacy, and the large amount of captured data. Although the devices are very profitable at the present time (analysis of the shown Rialto every dollar spent on technology saved about four dollars on complaint disputes), the level even of data storage has the potential to be catastrophic in the future.
"' The speed and volume of data accumulating in the police - even if only a fraction of recorded events transform in ' downloadable recordings»" for purposes of evidence – will be exponential grow with time ", said Ariel."Licences for the user, storage space, 'costs of security', maintenance and upgrades of the system can potential
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