People are known to offload memory processing tasks to devices, such as cameras. We examined whether body-worn cameras (BWCs) are used in this way by police officers. Fifty officers responded to a simulated domestic dispute that resulted in lethal force. Half the sample was provided a BWC and told their footage would be available to assist with post-event recall, but it was later feigned that there was a technological issue. The remaining officers were not equipped with a BWC and thus were aware they would not have any footage to rely on. The amount, accuracy, and type of details reported by officers were coded and subjected to analysis. The results revealed that wearing a camera did not promote cognitive offloading in officers, suggesting that the training officers receive, or other factors that might be unique to policing, may mitigate an effect that has been observed in other contexts.

众所周知，人们会将内存处理任务转移到设备（例如相机）上。我们检查了警务人员是否以这种方式使用了随身摄像机（BWC）。五十名军官对模拟的国内争端作出了回应，该争端导致了致命的武力。样本的一半被提供给BWC，并告知他们的镜头可用于事后召回，但后来却冒充技术问题。其余人员没有配备BWC，因此知道他们没有任何镜头可依靠。对官员报告的细节的数量，准确性和类型进行了编码并进行了分析。结果表明，佩戴相机并不会促进警官的认知减退，这表明培训官会收到警务或其他可能是警务特有的因素，