ABSTRACT

This study investigated citizen attitudes about the public release of police body-worn camera (BWC) video. We examined quantitative and qualitative survey data from a convenience sample of 535 citizens living in and around Birmingham, Alabama, USA. We found citizens’ attitudes ranged widely and were often contextualized based on the circumstances of the video and case. Race, gender, and police accountability concerns were significantly related to greater support for video release, with race being the strongest factor. Surveillance concerns were not significantly related to attitudes about video release. While numerous studies show that officers and citizens support the use of BWCs in policing, questions about the public release of video are still under debate. Very few studies have examined the issue of video release for the purposes of developing evidence-based policy that satisfies the interests of diverse groups and minimizes civil unrest following critical incidents. Further research is needed before clear recommendations can be made regarding optimum policies guiding BWC video release.

摘要

本研究调查了公民对公开发布警察随身摄像机 (BWC) 视频的态度。我们检查了来自居住在美国阿拉巴马州伯明翰及其周边地区的 535 名公民的便利样本的定量和定性调查数据。我们发现公民的态度范围很广，并且经常根据视频和案件的情况进行情境化。种族、性别和警察问责制问题与对视频发布的更大支持密切相关，种族是最重要的因素。监视问题与对视频发布的态度没有显着关系。虽然大量研究表明官员和公民支持在警务中使用生物武器公约，但关于公开发布视频的问题仍在争论中。很少有研究调查视频发布问题，以制定满足不同群体利益的循证政策，并最大限度地减少重大事件后的内乱。在就指导 BWC 视频发布的最佳政策提出明确建议之前，需要进一步研究。