Problem Statement
Although many studies have been conducted on body-worn-cameras and the positive perceptions of police performance and police interaction (Crow et al., 2017), there has been little to no data collected or literature pertaining to the perception of citizens that have been confined or are confined in correctional facilities.
Purpose Statement
The purpose of this of this study is to gather historical data 12-months prior to the implementation of BWCs and compare it with data collected 12-months post implementation of the cameras on the complaints against the Little Rock, Arkansas police department to determine the effectiveness of the cameras to deter complaints. Second, to evaluate the publics opinion on the use of BWCs by officers and their perception on their effectiveness, and lastly, gather data through focus group style interviews of confined offenders currently serving in the Little Rock, Arkansas Correctional Facility to determine the inmate’s perspective on the use of BWCs by officers.
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The Little Rock Police department is set to start fielding BWCs across it’s department to all patrol officer. As a first step in collecting data for this research, the current number of complaints against the department and its officers for the three-years prior to camera deployment must collected and analyzed. This historical data will be separated into 12-month increments to create a baseline of the current complaints against the department and its officers for a 12-month period. Data will then be collected for the first 12-months after the cameras have been implemented and compared to the three-years prior. This comparison will provide an understanding of the cameras effectiveness to reduce the numbers of complaints against officers and the