Author(s):
Thomas Naplava, Stefan Kersting & Michael Reutemann

Institution:
Hochschule für Polizei und öffentliche Verwaltung Nordrhein-Westfalen

Title:
Violent Victimization and the Use of Body-Worn Cameras of Police Patrol Officers in North-Rhine Westfalia

Abstract:
A pilot study examining the causal effects of body-worn cameras did not only show the deescalating potential of the cameras but also their impact on the behaviour of police of­ficers interacting with citizens Therefore this article deals with the question whether the experience of violence affects the use of body-worn cameras of police officers

Methods: The police officers who took part in the pilot study were interviewed twice with a standardised questionnaire Topics of the surveys were experiences of violence, intention to activate and the use of the body-worn camera Due to an individual matching of the answers of both surveys (n = 158) it was possible to analyse causal effects of experiences of violence on the use of the body-worn camera in multivariate statistical methods

Results: Moreover, male police officers used the body-worn camera more often than their female colleagues Yet, female police officers who experienced violence activated the body-worn cameras even more often than their male colleagues This temporally causal effect also exists when other variables are taken into account These results are discussed in the context of findings of general police research.

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