This article reports on a research study that explored how different factors at the officer- and event-level influenced Milwaukee Police Department officers’ decisions to turn on their body-worn cameras; it provides a discussion of the authors’ research design, methodology, and approach, as well as implications of their findings.
This study explores how various officer and event-level factors influence Milwaukee Police Department officers’ decision to activate their body-worn cameras (BWCs) across both community member-initiated services and officer-initiated activities. Across the 1,052 officers and 1,066,112 officer-events in the sample, the authors use descriptive and logistical regressions to assess differences in BWC activations across calls for service and officer-initiated activities. They found similar activation rates between calls for service (41.5 percent) and officer-initiated activities (44.1percent ). However, their logistic regression analysis results suggest the explanatory power of the event and officer-level variables was substantially better in models examining officer-initiated activities. Among calls for service, officers were more likely to activate BWCs during calls involving crimes against persons compared to other crimes or non-criminal incidents. Activation was more frequent during traffic stops than other self-initiated activities. Activation increased when the event resulted in an advisement, citation, detention or arrest. The success of police BWC programs hinges on whether officers activate their cameras when interacting with community members. Findings suggest that officers are more likely to activate their BWCs during activities that involve direct interactions with community members, especially in situations with a higher potential for volatility or serious criminal implications. (Published Abstract Provided)