Human beings behave differently when they are aware that someone is watching them

Human beings respond accordingly because they know that someone is watching them. When wearing body cameras, police officers will be more polite and less offensive when interacting with neighborhood residents, since they realize they're being observed. The use of bodycams gives greater visibility to police and the city. In addition, body-cams would minimize the unnecessary use of force by police officers and improve police-citizen ties.
Bibliography annotated
Gaub, J. E., Choate, D. E., Todak, N., Katz, C. M., and White, M. D. (2016). Officer's views of body-worn cameras before and after deployment: analysis of three departments. Police officers quarterly, 19(3), 275-302. Lack of comparison of officer’s perception on the use of body cams in various departments is what motivated Gaub and his fellow researchers in performing the study comparing officer perceptions of body cams in three police departments. The research took place between 2013 and 2015 before and after implementation of the body cams. The researchers analyzed the differences and similarities of perceptions among the officers across the police departments.
The source of information is relevant since its arguments of the perceptions the police officers have across the department will help in determining if the police officers have different experiences when they use and when they do not use body cams during the current research. The introduction part of the article explains that body cams have been advocated as an appropriate tool that can strengthen the community relationships as well as increase transparency and accountability in the police department. Besides, the article argues that the federal government and the public have strong support for the body cams. The source is reliable because it is a Sage journal and Sage is a reputable company in giving credible information. The author Janne E. Gaub earned her Ph.D. from the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State Uiversity and is now a program manager with the Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety. She is a former Spirit of Service Scholar with the College of Public Programs and Graduate College Fellow.
Ariel, B. (2016). Increasing cooperation with the police using body-worn cameras. Police quarterly, 19(3), 326-362.
Ariel wished to answer the question of whether the use of body cams can influence the willingness of people to report the crime. A study was carried in Denver in which a group of police officers wearing the body cams were deployed in the targeted areas and control police officers without body cams patrolled no-treatment areas. The unit if the analysis involved stratified street segments to measure the effect on the number of emergency calls in target versus control street segments. The analysis of research concluded that the use of body cams lead to greater willingness to report crimes to the police in low crime density level residential street segments, but no discernible differences emerge in hotspot street segments
The article is relevant because of its argument which explains that there was increased reporting to police officers with body cams, shows how accountable the police officers are when they use body cams. Therefore, the data will assist in showing police accountability in the research being conducted. The article is reliable because it is a Sage journal which is reputable in giving credible sources of information. Barak Ariel is a lecturer in the Police Executive Programme. Among other topics, Barak provides seminars on research methods, systematic reviews and statistical analyses. As the chief analyst of the Jerry Lee Centre of Experimental Criminology, Barak is involved in several field experiments on police tactics in partnership with forces in the UK and abroad, including hotspot policing, restorative justice, use of cameras in police operations, informal crime control, and tax compliance.
Ariel, B., Farrar, W. A., & Sutherland, A. (2015). The effect of police body-worn cameras on the use of force and citizens' complaints against the police: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 31(3), 509-535.
The use of excessive force by the police has become an international concern that has attracted practitioners and academics. The exercise of power by the officers whether justified or not can blemish their relationship with the community members. The police misconduct can be public complaints against the police, and this has profound social and economic impacts. The research paper tested the use of body cams by evaluating the impacts of videotaped police encounters with members of the public on occurrences of use of force by the officers and complaints in a controlled setting that was randomized. The results of the experiment indicated that incidences of use of force under controlled conditions were almost twice those in the experimental conditions. The scholarly article is relevant to the thesis statement since it appreciates the role of body cams in reducing incidences of use of force by officers. It is a reliable source because it is retrieved from a reputable company in giving credible sources of information. Besides, Barak Ariel is a lecturer in the Police Executive Programme. Among other topics, Barak provides seminars on research methods, systematic reviews and statistical analyses. As the chief analyst of the Jerry Lee Centre of Experimental Criminology, Barak is involved in several field experiments on police tactics in partnership with forces in the UK and abroad, including hotspot policing, restorative justice, use of cameras in police operations, informal crime control, and tax compliance.
Ariel, B., Sutherland, A., Henstock, D., Young, J., Drover, P., Sykes, J., & Henderson, R. (2016). Wearing body cameras increases assaults against officers and does not reduce police use of force: Results from a global multi-site experiment. European Journal of Criminology, 13(6), 744-755.
Internationally, the use of force by the police is at the vanguard of public awareness. The security department introduced body worn videos with the aim of reducing incidences of assaults against officers along with the use of force. However, only a few peer-reviewed trials have evaluated the effectiveness of the body worn videos by focusing primarily on complaints and use of force. The article wanted to replicate the studies by incorporating assaults against officers as another outcome. The study employed meta-analysis of multiple sites, 2.2 million hours of police officers and randomized controlled trials in different countries from 10 distinct tests with over 2 million people to gauge the effects of the body worn videos (BWVs) on assaults against officers and use of force.
The findings indicated that the BWVs had little impact on the use of force by the police, but they increased assaults against the police. The relevance of the article is strengthened by its experiments to discover the effects of BWVs on the police and the community. On the other hand, it is reliable because it is a European Journal of Criminology and can be retrieved from Sage journals. The article is also credible since Barak Ariel is one of its authors. He is a lecturer in the Police Executive Programme. Among other topics, Barak provides seminars on research methods, systematic reviews and statistical analyses. As the chief analyst of the Jerry Lee Centre of Experimental Criminology, Barak is involved in several field experiments on police tactics in partnership with forces in the UK and abroad, including hotspot policing, restorative justice, use of cameras in police operations, informal crime control, and tax compliance.
Coudert, F., Butin, D., & Le Métayer, D. (2015). Body-worn cameras for police accountability: Opportunities and risks. Computer law & security review, 31(6), 749-762.
The use of body cams by the police force is widely spread. The body cams are regarded as tools to promote accountability for the community members and police officers as well as an efficient strategy for reducing incidences of corruption, violence, and discrimination. Nonetheless, the body cams have a remarkable potential of intruding into the privacy of officers and community members.
The publication analyzes the use of body cams in 5 selected countries to determine the suitability of the body cams as tools for accountability. The findings of the study indicated that the use of body cams promoted accountability since there were few incidences of aggressiveness of the police officers and the complaints against the police were less. The article is relevant to the research topic since it explores the effectiveness of bodycams in promoting accountability in details. The article is credible since one of its authors Fanny Coudert has working experience as legal counsel and data protection auditor. She is a member of the Madrid Bar Association (2001). Fanny joined ICRI in July, 2006 where she conducts research in the field of privacy. She is currently working on the topic of privacy and surveillance within the FP7 EU projects VALCRI (Visual AnaLytics for sense-making in Criminal Intelligence analysis) and preparing a PhD on the topic of "The purpose specification principle in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice: towards renewed data protection principles for information-based practices in the field of Security" under the supervision of Prof. Dr. P. Valcke, Prof. Dr. F. Verbruggen and Dr. E. Kindt.
Jennings, W. G., Fridell, L. A., & Lynch, M. D. (2014). Cops and cameras: Officer Perceptions of the use of body-worn cameras in law enforcement. Journal of Criminal Justice, 42(6), 549-556
Recently there has been an upsurge in the deployment of body-worn cameras in the enforcement of law. Nevertheless, there is minimal research on the perceptions of police officers on the use of body-worn cameras. The study relies on the data collected during surveys on officers' perception towards the body cams. A randomized experiment was used on police officers from Orlando to assess the effects of body cams in the enforcement of law. The results of the study indicated that a large number of the police officers supported the use of body cams and they were comfortable wearing them.
The officers acknowledged the benefits of body cams such as improving their behavior and the behavior of the community and their fellow officers. Conclusively, the article is not only reliable but also relevant to the research topic since it evaluates the benefits of the body cams in affecting pertinent outcomes positively. Wesley G. Jennings, PhD, is Associate Professor, Associate Chair, and Undergraduate Director in the Department of Criminology, has a Courtesy Appointment in the Department of Mental Health Law and Policy, and is a Faculty Affiliate of the Florida Mental Health Institute in the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences at the University of South Florida. Besides, he has over 200 publications, his h-index is 29 (i-index of 77), and he has over 3,000 citations to his published work. He was recognized as the #1 criminologist in the world and, more recently, as the #3 criminologist in the world across all ranks in terms of his peer-reviewed scholarly publication productivity in the top criminology and criminal justice journals. Therefore, the article is credible and reliable.
Jennings, W. G., Lynch, M. D., & Fridell, L. A. (2015). Evaluating the impact of police officer body-worn cameras (BWCs) on response-to-resistance and serious external complaints: Evidence from the Orlando police department (OPD) experience utilizing a randomized controlled experiment. Journal of criminal justice, 43(6), 480-486.
The scholarly article scrutinizes the impacts of body-worn cameras on the responses of a police officer to resistance along with serious complaints internally. The study employed the randomized experiment where 46 police officers who were picked randomly wore the body worn cameras (BWCs) while 43 officers did not wear them.
Data collected before and after the implementation of BWCs was compared within and between the two groups. The findings indicated that the BWCs were instrumental in reducing incidences of response-to-resistance and external complaints. The frequency of these outcomes reduced significantly. This source discusses how BWCs improve the behaviors of the officers which supports the second section of the thesis relating to police accountability. The findings of the study indicate the significance of the BWCs in improving the collection of evidence, improving the behaviors of the officers along with their work. Interestingly, various police departments were prudent in their consideration to adopt the body cams. The article is credible and reliable since Wesley Jennings is a renowned author with over 200 publications, his h-index is 29 (i-index of 77), and he has over 3,000 citations to his published work. He was recognized as the #1 criminologist in the world and, more recently, as the #3 criminologist in the world across all ranks in terms of his peer-reviewed scholarly publication productivity in the top criminology and criminal justice journals.
Ready, J. T., & Young, J. T. (2015). The impact of on-officer video cameras on police–citizen contacts: Findings from a controlled experiment in Mesa, AZ. Journal of experimental criminology, 11(3), 445-458
The use of on-officer video cameras (OVC) is on the rise, and large agencies have adopted the technology although limitedly. In the U.S, several states require their police departments to adopt the technology. Few researchers have assessed the impacts of the OVC technology on the complaints of citizens against police officers, the contacts between the officers and citizens as well as the attitudes of police officers the technology. The study examines the perceptions along with the behaviors of 100 officers from the Mesa Police Department during police encounters with the citizens over a period of 10 months.
The findings indicated that officers wearing the OVCs initiated encounters along with giving citations. The article indicates that the use of OVC technology makes the police officers proactive without using aggressive strategies that might affect their organization's legitimacy. The article is reliable since it is associated with a reputable source. This source discusses the impact of the use of the on-officer video cameras in promoting transparency and accountability in the police force which supports the second section of the thesis. The source can be relied on since Justin T. Ready is an assistant professor of criminology at Arizona State University. His research focuses on the impact of police technology on crime control. He has been working with the police departments since 1994 meaning he has a wide knowledge about policing.
Drover, P., & Ariel, B. (2015). Leading an experiment in police body-worn video cameras. International Criminal Justice Review, 25(1), 80-97.
The challenges during implementation of a randomized control trial of body cams motivated the researchers in conducting the study. Drover and Ariel wanted to identify the challenges as well as how they were overcome. Such solutions would be helpful to the leaders of police departments as they undertake evidence-based testing, manage police operations as well as implement any change in the police department.
This source discusses the success of implementation of body cams which supports the third section of the thesis statement that relates to body cams promoting the police-citizen relationship.. The data collected can be used in analyzing the success of body cams implementation. The article is a reliable source of information since it is a Sage journal, a company that is reputable in providing credible research information. Besides, Barak Ariel is one of its authors. He is a lecturer in the Police Executive Programme. Among other topics, Barak provides seminars on research methods, systematic reviews and statistical analyses. As the chief analyst of the Jerry Lee Centre of Experimental Criminology, Barak is involved in several field experiments on police tactics in partnership with forces in the UK and abroad, including hotspot policing, restorative justice, use of cameras in police operations, informal crime control, and tax compliance. Ariel, B., Sutherland, A., Henstock, D., Young, J., Drover, P., Sykes, J., ... & Henderson, R. (2016). Report: increases in police use of force in the presence of body-worn cameras are driven by officer discretion: a protocol-based subgroup analysis of ten randomized experiments. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 12(3), 453-463.
The group of researchers aimed at establishing whether the use of body cams influenced the use of force among the police officers. The findings showed a negative relationship between the use of force by police officers and wearing of body cams. They explain that the contemporary police departments are trying to reduce the use of excessive force by the police officers with the help of the body cams. All the ten trials that the researchers performed proved that use of body cams had an impact on the use of unnecessary force by police officers.
The source is relevant because it shows the effects of using body cams to reduce the use of excessive force by the police officers. That is one way of showing accountability in the police department. Therefore, arguments in the study conducted by Ariel and his colleagues can be used to explain the thesis statement which states that the use of body cams is providing more accountability for officers and the community. The source is also reliable since it Springer Link Journal which is reputable in providing credible information for research. The article is also credible since Barak Ariel is one of its authors. He is a lecturer in the Police Executive Programme. Among other topics, Barak provides seminars on research methods, systematic reviews and statistical analyses. As the chief analyst of the Jerry Lee Centre of Experimental Criminology, Barak is involved in several field experiments on police tactics in partnership with forces in the UK and abroad, including hotspot policing, restorative justice, use of cameras in police operations, informal crime control, and tax compliance.
 
References
Ariel, B. (2016). Increasing cooperation with the police using body worn cameras. Police quarterly, 19(3), 326-362. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1098611116653723
Ariel, B., Farrar, W. A., & Sutherland, A. (2015). The effect of police body-worn cameras on use of force and citizens’ complaints against the police: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 31(3), 509-535. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10940-014-9236-3
Ariel, B., Sutherland, A., Henstock, D., Young, J., Drover, P., Sykes, J., ... & Henderson, R. (2016). Wearing body cameras increases assaults against officers and does not reduce police use of force: Results from a global multi-site experiment. European Journal of Criminology, 13(6), 744-755. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1477370816643734
Ariel, B., Sutherland, A., Henstock, D., Young, J., Drover, P., Sykes, J., ... & Henderson, R. (2016). Report: increases in police use of force in the presence of body-worn cameras are driven by officer discretion: a protocol-based subgroup analysis of ten randomized experiments. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 12(3), 453-463. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11292-016-9261-3
Coudert, F., Butin, D., & Le Métayer, D. (2015). Body-worn cameras for police accountability: Opportunities and risks. Computer Law & Security Review, 31(6), 749-762. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.clsr.2015.09.002
Drover, P., & Ariel, B. (2015). Leading an experiment in police body-worn video cameras. International Criminal Justice Review, 25(1), 80-97. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1057567715574374
Gaub, J. E., Choate, D. E., Todak, N., Katz, C. M., & White, M. D. (2016). Officer perceptions of body-worn cameras before and after deployment: A study of three departments. Police Quarterly, 19(3), 275-302. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1098611116653398
Jennings, W. G., Fridell, L. A., & Lynch, M. D. (2014). Cops and cameras: Officer perceptions of the use of body-worn cameras in law enforcement. Journal of Criminal Justice, 42(6), 549-556. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2014.09.008
Jennings, W. G., Lynch, M. D., & Fridell, L. A. (2015). Evaluating the impact of police officer body-worn cameras (BWCs) on response-to-resistance and serious external complaints: Evidence from the Orlando police department (OPD) experience utilizing a randomized controlled experiment. Journal of Criminal Justice, 43(6), 480-486. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2015.10.003
Ready, J. T., & Young, J. T. (2015). The impact of on-officer video cameras on police–citizen contacts: Findings from a controlled experiment in Mesa, AZ. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 11(3), 445-458. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11292-015-9237-8