TY - JOUR
T1 - Behind the yellow sticker
T2 - paradoxical effects of a visual warning of body-worn cameras on the use of police force
AU - Assaraf, Noy
AU - Mouro, Alejandro
AU - Papy, Donald M.
AU - Castillo, Noel
AU - Ariel, Barak
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Objectives: Research on police body-worn cameras (BWCs) draws attention to the need for suspects to be aware of the devices for them to exert a deterrent, “civilising effect”, which can manifest as a reduction in the use of force in police-public interactions. This awareness can be manipulated audibly, visually, or both, yet no trials exist to test a visual stimulus that increases awareness of BWCs relative to BWCs without this function. In this field experiment, we test the effect of a visual warning of BWCs on use-of-force incidence. Methods: A six-month cluster-randomised controlled trial involving spatiotemporal police units was conducted in Miami Beach, USA. The units were randomly assigned to the experimental group, which included officers who wore BWCs featuring multiple yellow stickers and “VIDEO & AUDIO” logo (used as a visual warning). Officers in the control group were equipped with BWCs without yellow stickers. Neither group was required to announce the presence of the BWCs, thus isolating the visual warning from the audial warning. Poisson regression models estimate the treatment effect, with confirmatory subgroup analyses based on the proactive versus reactive interactions. Results: Statistically significant differences in the use of force by officers, but in the contrary direction: higher rate of use of force due to equipping officers with BWCs with yellow stickers relative to BWCs without the yellow stickers. Relative change analysis indicates that yellow stickers cause an increase in the rate of use of force in incidents involving proactive policing, with a less pronounced increase in reactive policing. Conclusion: Without contextualising their use to citizens, raising awareness of the presence of BWCs can aggravate police-public encounters.
AB - Objectives: Research on police body-worn cameras (BWCs) draws attention to the need for suspects to be aware of the devices for them to exert a deterrent, “civilising effect”, which can manifest as a reduction in the use of force in police-public interactions. This awareness can be manipulated audibly, visually, or both, yet no trials exist to test a visual stimulus that increases awareness of BWCs relative to BWCs without this function. In this field experiment, we test the effect of a visual warning of BWCs on use-of-force incidence. Methods: A six-month cluster-randomised controlled trial involving spatiotemporal police units was conducted in Miami Beach, USA. The units were randomly assigned to the experimental group, which included officers who wore BWCs featuring multiple yellow stickers and “VIDEO & AUDIO” logo (used as a visual warning). Officers in the control group were equipped with BWCs without yellow stickers. Neither group was required to announce the presence of the BWCs, thus isolating the visual warning from the audial warning. Poisson regression models estimate the treatment effect, with confirmatory subgroup analyses based on the proactive versus reactive interactions. Results: Statistically significant differences in the use of force by officers, but in the contrary direction: higher rate of use of force due to equipping officers with BWCs with yellow stickers relative to BWCs without the yellow stickers. Relative change analysis indicates that yellow stickers cause an increase in the rate of use of force in incidents involving proactive policing, with a less pronounced increase in reactive policing. Conclusion: Without contextualising their use to citizens, raising awareness of the presence of BWCs can aggravate police-public encounters.
KW - Awareness
KW - Body-worn cameras
KW - Clustered randomised controlled trial
KW - Police
KW - Use of force
KW - Visual warning
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85197509153&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-024-09627-8
DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-024-09627-8
M3 - مقالة
SN - 1573-3750
JO - Journal of Experimental Criminology
JF - Journal of Experimental Criminology
ER -