Body-Worn Camera Footage in the News: An Experimental Study of the Impact of Perspective and Framing on Viewer Perception

Abstract

The use of body-worn cameras (BWCs) by police organizations has increased rapidly in recent years. As a result, the use of BWC footage by mass media has also increased. While such video images can help viewers better understand complex police interventions, there are few studies of the extent to which BWC footage influences audience opinions and interpretations of police work. This article investigates the degree to which news reports of a police use-of-force event are influenced by two potential sources of cognitive bias: camera perspective and the way information about the event is framed. In a study using a three (cellphone, closed-circuit camera, and BWC perspective) by two (neutral and negative frame) experimental design, a total of 634 participants viewed and evaluated a news report of a police use-of-force event. Participant perceptions showed the influence of a BWC perspective bias, but no framing effect was found. Participants who watched the BWC footage were more likely to see the intervention as questionable or blameworthy and to believe that officers had no reasonable grounds for intervening. Results also suggest that the BWC perspective bias can be exacerbated or mitigated by the way information is presented in a news report.