The Role of Police Body Cameras: Community Attitudes during Police Encounters
Pagan, Jeremy.
2019
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After the deaths of many unarmed Black citizens in 2014 former
president Barack Obama emphasized that the mistrust towards police was a national
problem and announced a police body camera pilot program that would begin in 2015
in hope to build trust and transparency between law enforcement and the
communities they serve (Landler, 2014; Department of Justice, 2015). Since then,
much of the ... read moreresearch on police body cameras has focused on its potential effects
on police misconduct and has not explored the potential benefits police body
cameras may have for civilians. Across two experiments we investigated whether the
implementation of police body cameras could influence perceptions of police,
feelings around police, and cooperation with police. In Experiment 1 we found that
the implementation of body cameras could influence civilians' perceptions of
police legitimacy. More importantly we found initial evidence that the
implementation of body cameras could influence anticipated feelings of safety,
especially for Black participants. Anticipated feeling of safety was also a
significant mediator between the implementation of body cameras and future
cooperation with police. In Experiment 2 we were able to replicate some of our
findings from Experiment 1, such as body cameras influencing anticipated feelings
of safety for Black and White participants. This research provides preliminary
evidence that the implementation of body cameras can improve police-civilian
interactions by potentially making a police encounter feel safer for civilians and
lead to a greater willingness to help police solve crimes in the
future.
Thesis (M.S.)--Tufts University, 2019.
Submitted to the Dept. of Psychology.
Advisor: Samuel Sommers.
Committee: Cynthia Najdowski, and Keith Maddox.
Keyword: Social psychology.read less - ID:
- 1v53k956b
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