Deterrence Theory

Tony Farrar published an exploratory study applying the effects of deterrence theory in being watch towards law enforcement demonstrating the effects of body-cameras on officer’s behaviors. Farrar makes the point that, “most forms of species alter their behaviors once made aware that they are being observed” (Farrar 2013). With that in mind the study determined that those officers that wore body-cameras experienced twice as many use of force incidents (Farrar pg. 8). The author expresses the relationship between the dependent variable of use of force complaints compared to the independent variable involving body-cameras proved with a 95% confidence variable that body-cameras altered the behaviors of police officers dramatically. The calculations

The study demonstrated the effects of body-cameras in their use of enforcing domestic violence cases. Because domestic violence cases were often dependent on the testimony of one of the spouses Martin Goodall looked into the application of using portable cameras to record police contacts in situations other than car stops. This form of evidence gathering technique showed to increase the amount of cases in conviction of domestic violence offenders by providing an alternative form of evidence. “The evidence could be considered as the victim’s first statement and be useful in supporting prosecutions if the victim is reluctant to give evidence, changes their evidence or does not support the prosecution through the court process” (pg. 12). The data collection revealed that 66.2% of cases involving the body-cameras result in arrest (pg. 15). This form of data collection is primarily focused on the effects on domestic violence, but allows for interpretation in regards to its impacts of civilian behavior

However, in determining their effects on the citizens’ willingness to talk to the police and cooperation the document expressed, “PERF believes that requiring officers to record every encounter with the public would sometimes undermine community members’ privacy rights and damage important police-community relationships” (pg. 12). This demonstrates a concern for citizens in particular areas such as interviewing witnesses and other factors when applying body-cameras. The concern for retaliation is prevalent in policy implantation of the devices which is why few departments require recording at all