Getting maximum value from video of a controversial use-of-force encounter may require more than just viewing raw footage as it comes from the camera. In fact, three extra steps are often the keys that allow investigators and other interested parties to unlock critical secrets “hidden” in recordings that may not be evident at first glance,...Read More
The impact of stress on memory can cause an officer’s recollection of a force encounter to include unintentional and sometimes major errors, but reviewing body camera recordings as a part of report writing may make the permanent record more accurate and complete, according to a new, first-of-its-kind human performance study. The researchers involved claim their...Read More
A groundbreaking study of body-worn cameras first reported by Force Science News 18 months ago has now been published in a professional journal, with additional commentary. An abstract of the research can be accessed free of charge, with an option to buy the full study, by clicking here, which will take you to the website...Read More
For bests results, it’s important for agencies contemplating the adoption of body-worn cameras to survey their officers’ attitudes about this equipment before issuing it, says a research team of experts on this increasingly hot technology. Understanding the “extent to which officers are open” to wearing cameras and “their views on the positive and negative aspects...Read More
The idea is building that once every cop is equipped with a body camera, the controversy will be taken out of police shootings and other uses of force because “what really happened” will be captured on video for all to see. Well, to borrow the title from an old Gershwin tune, “It Ain’t Necessarily So.”...Read More
Fewer citizen complaints, fewer uses of force. According to a yearlong field study by a police department in southern California, those are the dual benefits of having patrol officers wear body cameras that record their public interactions. Indeed, the experiment has yielded such an “amazing” outcome that Chief William Farrar of the Rialto PD told...Read More
