Police Accountability

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Moving forward in establishing a new form of accountability one must look at the growing technological advances in the world. Police work in the public yet the direct supervision is limited and with the amount of discretion that has been given to officers, coupled with the limited supervision can present opportunities for misconduct. As we have moved into an advanced and technological world there are advancements that can not only help officers perform their duties but aid in the accountability (Walker & Archbold, 2014). In the 1990's the emergence of the dashboard camera allowed the capturing of the real-time encounter between citizens and the police. This has led to an increase of officer safety, accountability, and a reduction in agency …show more content…
This device is worn on the body and records the interactions between police and the citizenry. This increases both officer and citizen accountability. BWC’s have already been in use by law enforcement, as a pilot program, since 2012. The cities of Mesa, Arizona, Rialto, California, and Phoenix, Arizona, have piloted programs and conducted studies on their effectiveness. There is not much of empirical studies on the impact of BWCs. The City of Rialto, California conducted a randomized study in 2013 and found that the use of BWCs reduced citizens' complaints and use of force by 59% and 87.5% (Farrar & Ariel, 2014). This was one of the first documented empirical studies showing the benefits of the BWC. The City of Mesa, Arizona conducted a study on the use of 50 BWCs. The study focused most on the challenges and importance of cataloging and storing video for efficient retrieval. However, it did find that there was a 40% decrease in complaints and a 5% decrease in the use of force complaints (Rankin, 2013). The City of Phoenix, Arizona piloted BWCs to enhance transparency with the community and determine its value on clearing crimes. This program is most likely the …show more content…
The US Department of Justice published a report that identified perceived benefits and perceived concerns to the implementation of BWC program in an agency. The report provided that the perceived benefits include enhanced transparency and improved behavior by both citizens and officers. In contrast to the perceived concerns that included privacy issues for both officers and citizens, the investment into the development of training and policies, and a commitment of logistics and resources. However, this report did not offer any empirical findings, but noted that there is an urgent need for independent research into the use of BWCs. It also reported that the use of BWCs have the opportunity to be a promising training tool. It is recommended that agencies who wish to implement a BWC program should do so cautiously (White, 2014). BWCs are a new technology and as such one must look at all factors before implementing any new programs. With further research into the usefulness of BWCs an agency can make a more informed decision. One must not prematurely enter into a program just because of the recent events. This can lead to further problems in the future. BWCs, on the surface, look like the panacea for the problems that the police face in these recent years, but with every new technological advance there is a potential downside. It is not known what true potential downside is with the implementation of a
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