Abstract

Policy makers and police departments have suggested the implementation of body-worn cameras (BWC) to increase officer accountability. BWC may be a contributing factor in altering police officers’ behavior, beyond use of force statistics and citizen complaints. Its impact on reported property crimes and violent crimes is yet to be explored. To examine this topic more meticulously, the authors estimate a difference-in-difference estimation on the effect of the adoption of BWC technology on reported property and violent crime in Washington D.C. This study finds that BWC implementation leads to a 9% reduction in reported property crimes but no effect for reported violent crimes. These results lend important application for accountability literature, policymakers and legislators, including the impact of policy tools on bureaucratic decision making and the development of new accountability standards that include BWC.

摘要

政策制定者和警察部门已建议实施随身摄像机 (BWC)，以提高警官的责任感。除了使用武力统计数据和公民投诉之外，《生物武器公约》可能是改变警察行为的一个促成因素。其对报告的财产犯罪和暴力犯罪的影响尚待探索。为了更仔细地研究这个主题，作者对采用 BWC 技术对华盛顿特区报告财产和暴力犯罪的影响进行了差异估计。这项研究发现，BWC 的实施导致报告财产减少了 9%犯罪，但对报告的暴力犯罪没有影响。这些结果为问责文献、政策制定者和立法者提供了重要的应用，