San Diego

Body Cameras Do Not Have Impact on Use of Force: Study

The findings are a stark contrast to prior studies that examine how cameras influence police behavior.

Body camera do not consistently impact how often police deploy their Tasers or pull out their guns, a newly released study found. 

The study, released Wednesday, looked use of force incidents in Spokane, Wash. and Milwaukee, Wis. The findings are a stark contrast to prior studies that examine how cameras influence police behavior. 

San Diego Police Department (SDPD) officials say since they have started using body cameras, the number of times police officers have used a Taser or fired their weapon has gone down. 

However, the department says the overall number of incidents where a police officer uses force has increased 18 percent. Find a full breakdown of the numbers here. 

San Diego Police Officer Association President Brian Marvel says you may see an increase in force because police are using less lethal options sooner.

He says the body cameras help the public understand what's happening better than cell phone video.

"They will completely eliminate all the stuff that came before to where it progressed to a use of force issue and all they will put on is the use of force with no context, and I think what the body camera does is it allows the full picture to come out at the time it needs to come out," Marvel said.

If you look at how many incidents police respond to a year, they end up documenting any kind of force in less than one percent of those cases, Marvel said. 

In some cases, the study found, productivity among officers increased. 

"It was interesting to see that productivity was up and I do agree with the article, that officers probably feel a little bit more empowered to know that the body cameras are on so that stuff is being captured, their interaction with people," Marvel said.

Marvel said the study also indicates the use of force was low in the two studied cities to begin with so to have officers wear cameras would not have much of a visible impact. 

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