Police Body-Worn Cameras

Christopher J. Schneider is a professor of sociology at Brandon University.Erick Laming is an assistant professor of criminology in the Department of Sociology at Trent University.

• Introduction: Media and Police Body-Worn Cameras. 1.The New Discourse of Police Reform. 2.Policing’s New Visibility and the Impetus for Body-Worn Cameras. 3.Police Body-Worn Cameras and Axon Enterprise’s Claims in Media. 4.News Coverage of the Rialto Police Department’s Body Camera Experiment. 5.Body-Worn Cameras and Police Accountability in Practice. Conclusion: Developments and Recommendations. Bibliography.

"Schneider and Laming provide a compelling narrative, unpacking the role of the mass media in the adoption of police body-worn cameras and in the image work that dominates public discourse around police use of these cameras. Police Body-Worn Cameras provides needed and important analysis for understanding the interplay between police adoption of body-worn cameras, mass media, and evolving discourses around accountability and transparency in contemporary police reform."Bryce Clayton Newell, University of Oregon; author of Police Visibility: Privacy, Surveillance, and the False Promise of Police Body-Worn Cameras"Police Body-Worn Cameras asks why those bent on reforming the police demand that they be equipped with body-worn cameras. It is as if, with no other intervention, these little black boxes will transform police conduct, reduce violence and misconduct complaints, and offer greater transparency. And yet there is little evidence to back up these claims. Schneider and Laming take us through the history of this 'miracle' technology to reveal the development of the myths and beliefs that surround it. They explore the role of the media in promoting the adoption of cameras following high-profile police shootings in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, and raise questions about the parallel rise of evidence-based policing. Police Body-Worn Cameras shows cameras have made little discernible difference to the practices of police officers or to the experiences of those subject to policing. In this important contribution to our thinking about police reform, Schneider and Laming conclude that we need to look beyond cameras if we are to see real change in the conduct of officers."Mike Rowe, University of Liverpool"Situated in a long lineage of critical media studies, Police Body-Worn Cameras explores claims and debates across a range of media made by police and corporations about the use and effects of body-worn cameras. Skillfully examining the terrain of police accountability in the digital age, Schneider and Laming show that a new discourse of police reform that relies on appeals to technology and computerization is emerging. The authors argue that media and police claims about body-worn cameras have played a crucial role in softening the image of police and boosting legitimacy for such initiatives and technologies. The book is a very useful addition to critical analyses of policing and technology in the twenty-first century."Kevin Walby, Criminal Justice, University of Winnipeg"If you’ve ever been seduced by the idea that slapping a camera on a cop magically turns them into a model of accountability, this book is your cold, necessary shower. Schneider and Laming cut through the PR and corporate hype to show how body-worn cameras became a billion-dollar placebo—a tech-washed distraction from real reform, sold through media spin instead of evidence."Michael Spratt, criminal defense specialist, partner at AGP LLP, and columnist for Canadian Lawyer