Journal article
Measuring the effect of body-worn cameras on complaints in Latin America: The case of traffic police in Uruguay
Policing : an international journal of police strategies & management, v 41(4), pp 510-524
01 Jan 2018
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Purpose More than a half a dozen published studies have observed the effect of body-worn cameras (BWCs) on complaints against the police. Nearly all, with varying degrees of methodological sophistication, tell a similar story: a strong reduction in complaints filed against the police once BWCs are in use. However, the entirety of the published evidence comes from English speaking countries, limited to the USA and the UK, and is restricted to the effects of BWCs on response policing. The purpose of this paper is to extend this body of research to Latin America, and to specialized policing jobs.
Design/methodology/approach The authors measured the consequence of equipping traffic police officers with BWCs in five out of the 19 traffic police departments in Uruguay (n=208), and compared these settings to both the pre-test figures as well as to the non-treatment departments. Interrupted time-series analyses and repeated measures of analysis were used for significance testing.
Findings Statistically significant differences emerged between the before-after as well as the between-groups comparisons: complaints were five times higher in the comparison vs the treatment jurisdictions, and there were 86 percent fewer cases compared to the pre-treatment period.
Research limitations/implications These outcomes suggest that the effect of BWCs on complaints is ubiquitous.
Practical implications The findings indicate that BWCs provide an effective solution for reducing grievances against the police, which can potentially be a marker of increased accountability, transparency and legitimacy for the Latin American law enforcement departments.
Originality/value This study is an extension of findings on BWCs to non-English-speaking police departments, with a focus on specialized policing rather than patrol policing.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Measuring the effect of body-worn cameras on complaints in Latin America: The case of traffic police in Uruguay
- Creators
- Renee J. Mitchell - Hebrew Univ Jerusalem, Fac Law, Inst Criminol, Jerusalem, IsraelBarak Ariel - Hebrew Univ Jerusalem, Fac Law, Inst Criminol, Jerusalem, IsraelMaria Emilia Firpo - Minist Interior, Montevideo, UruguayRicardo Fraiman - Minist Interior, Montevideo, UruguayFederico del Castillo - CUNY John Jay Coll Criminal Justice, New York, NY 10019 USAJordan M. Hyatt - Drexel UniversityCristobal Weinborn - Hebrew Univ Jerusalem, Fac Law, Inst Criminol, Jerusalem, IsraelHagit Brants Sabo - Hebrew Univ Jerusalem, Fac Law, Inst Criminol, Jerusalem, Israel
- Publication Details
- Policing : an international journal of police strategies & management, v 41(4), pp 510-524
- Publisher
- Emerald Group Publishing
- Number of pages
- 15
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Criminology and Justice Studies
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000441139000007
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85050003231
- Other Identifier
- 991019168639204721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Criminology & Penology