An experimental study of the impact of body-worn cameras on police report writing

Abstract

The impact of pre-report reviewing of body-worn camera (BWC) footage remains largely unknown. The current study investigates three research questions, including: “what impact does viewing body-worn camera footage have on report writing?”. Three hundred and sixty-two participants were asked to conduct a simulated use of force situation and write a report afterwards. They were randomly assigned to four conditions: in particular, one group had to review their BWC footage before writing a report, while another could not review the footage. All reports were coded by a team of research assistants and compared using bivariate and multivariate analyses. Participants wearing a BWC provided more accurate reports than those who did not wear one. However, the benefits were relatively small. The analysis suggests that pre-report review of BWC footage will help in providing more accurate reports but might reduce the reliance on subjective information, such as perceptions.