The pros and cons of police body cams

How police body cams have impacted modern policing

Today, more than 10 years after Axon introduced the Axon Body body-worn camera (BWC), the police body cam is at the forefront of modern policing. Seven US states now mandate the use of BWCs by law enforcement officers, and many more have adopted funding to provide them. Among the public, 89% of people support requiring police to wear BWCs, and more and more agencies have come to depend on BWCs to aid in officer training, provide public transparency and protect officers from false accusations.

While there are numerous benefits of police body cameras, there are some concerns, such as privacy, data storage, cost, and potential bias. When examining how this technology is changing modern policing, it’s important to explore the pros and cons of police body cams to achieve a holistic view of the impact they have had on public safety. 

Police body cams: Pros 

Advocates for police body cams assert the multitude of advantages they bring to both public safety and the professionalism of law enforcement officials.

Training and accountability

At most agencies, an officer will enter a probationary period after graduating from the police academy. During this time, the officer is still “in training” and being observed by a senior officer. A police body cam can be a crucial part of this training, allowing both the probationary officer and their superiors to observe events after the fact and break down what went right and what went wrong. In this way, the police body cam becomes an invaluable tool in the officer’s training.

Even after an officer has left the probationary period, there are benefits to using a police body cam to debrief difficult incidents after the fact and review an officer’s performance. Having a concrete, factual record of events removes ambiguity and makes it more likely officers will learn from any missteps. 

The record provided by a police body cam also helps to hold officers accountable for their actions and can even help prevent negative incidents from occurring. A 2017 study found that officers wearing BWCs generated fewer use-of-force reports and complaints from citizens compared to those not wearing a body cam, while a 2021 paper described a 17% reduction in complaints against officers wearing body cams and a 10% reduction in the use of force.  

Transparency and community relations

Police in some communities are viewed with distrust, often relating to use-of-force allegations and questions about encounters between police and community members. Police body cams can help alleviate this distrust by providing community members with better transparency into police actions. Police body cams can also allay citizen concerns by providing clear documentation of encounters to shore up police officers’ versions of events. 

Considering the prevalence of smartphone use and users' ability to edit captured footage to portray events with a bias, having solid video evidence of police encounters is crucial to better understanding police actions. Police body cams provide a record of events from the officers’ point of view, often highlighting when an officer has gone above and beyond. For this reason and others, two-thirds of police officers (66%) support the use of police body cams.

Evidence

Another benefit of police body cameras is the hard criminal evidence they provide. It is said that a picture speaks a thousand words, but video magnifies that vocabulary exponentially. Footage captured by body-worn cameras can be used as evidence for arrests and prosecutions, potentially enhancing the chances of a successful prosecution and even reducing the amount of time an officer spends on paperwork. 

A 2014 study demonstrated that officers wearing body-worn cameras contributed to more arrests and a higher number of guilty pleas in prosecution. This demonstrates that the police body cam can be an invaluable tool in modern policing, actually helping make the job easier and officers more successful. 

False accusations

People tend to focus on the negative when it comes to police behavior, but one of the positive effects of police body cameras is they also capture when an officer gets it right. BWC footage can provide valuable examples of proper policing, boosting force morale and reinforcing proper practices.

Police body cams also provide a shield for officers themselves, protecting them against false accusations. A 2018 incident in Texas highlighted the impact of BWCs when footage from a Texas State Trooper’s body cam was used to exonerate the officer from charges of sexual assault. 

After a routine traffic stop of a woman suspected of driving under the influence, the trooper was accused of offering to let the woman go if she performed sexual favors. The footage from the trooper’s body cam proved otherwise. In the nearly two hours of footage from the trooper’s BWC he could be seen stopping the woman, performing a field sobriety test, and taking her into custody, but performing none of the abuses he was accused of. The accusation was dismissed, and the woman’s attorney later recanted.