In recent years, personal body cameras have become a standard piece of equipment for law enforcement officers. They are a technological tool capable of increasing transparency of work and partially responding to the crisis of trust in the police.

How effective are body-worn video recorders in police work?

From tasers to video cameras: transformation of TASER, the largest manufacturer of stunguns in the USA, into Axon

Axon Enterprise has long been known as TASER International and was primarily associated with stunguns for the police. However, by the mid-2010s, the company's strategy began to change. Demand from law enforcement agencies has shifted towards digital solutions, video surveillance, and video evidence storage systems. In 2017, the company officially rebranded and changed its name to Axon, retaining the TASER brand only for the line of stunguns.

The name change reflected a change in the company's strategy. Axon has relied on equipping the police with body cameras, car cameras and a cloud platform for storing video recordings and digital materials. One of the key products is the Axon Body body cameras, which are widely used in US police departments. The company also developed the service evidence.com , which allows to safely store and transmit video evidence.

After high-profile public discussions about police transparency, the demand for such technologies has increased dramatically. Axon seized the moment and even offered American police departments free test use of cameras and software to speed up the implementation of the system.

How the police utilises bodyworn cameras

Video recording helps to objectively record what is happening during detentions, document checks, conflicts and other incidents. If an officer receives false accusations of rudeness, abuse of authority, or illegal actions, the recording can confirm the real circumstances of the events and protect the policeman.

Bodyworn cameras are useful as an evidence base. Records can be used in the investigation of crimes, complaints, internal audits and in court. This saves employees time and makes it easier to reconstruct the incident.

In addition, video materials are used for training personnel. Real recordings allow you to analyze mistakes, sort out difficult situations, improve communication tactics with citizens and improve the professional level of employees.

Body cameras also strengthen trust in the police. When the actions of employees become more transparent, the number of disputes decreases and the public's confidence in the objectivity of the work of law enforcement agencies increases. For the police themselves, this means fewer conflict situations and more constructive interaction with citizens.

The effect of personal body cameras on the behavior of citizens and police officers

Body cameras serve as a permanent monitoring tool that encourages both individual police officers and the department as a whole to improve professional standards and law enforcement practices.

One possible explanation for the observed decrease in the number of cases of excessive force on the part of the police may be changes in the behavior of citizens themselves. The use of personal video recorders can have a deterrent effect on aggressive or hostile actions, as citizens realize that their behavior is being recorded and, if necessary, can be used as evidence.

At the same time, changes are being observed in the work of law enforcement officers themselves. Wearable DVRs enhance external and internal control, making every action potentially verifiable. This increases the importance of following procedures and increases the cost of mistakes, which in turn encourages correct behavior. Employees begin to act in a more formalized manner, with a greater focus on regulations and a reduced risk of ambiguous decisions.

The impact of technology is most noticeable in situations where the use of force is not clearly justified. In particular, there has been a decrease in the number of cases of the use of force when interacting with unarmed citizens. This indicates that video recorders primarily affect decision-making processes in conditions of uncertainty, when the choice of tactics plays a key role. In situations involving a clear threat, for example, if the offender has a weapon, there are no statistically significant changes.

Conclusions

Despite the fact that the introduction of personal video recorders has a certain effect, the researchers note that such technologies cannot be considered as a universal solution to systemic problems.

Thus, video cameras are not so much an independent tool for transforming police work as an element of a broader system of changes. Their effectiveness is shown in combination with clearer regulations and transparency of police work.