Body Worn Camera and Trusting Police Use of Force: Law Thesis Proposal

Body Worn Camera and Trusting Police Use of Force
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* Introduction
The discussion on police body-worn cameras and whether they enhance trust and confidence has been a major debate. The main purpose of introducing the cameras among the police was to enhance confidence and trust that citizens have towards officers with the hope that it could improve police behavior. However, in the wake of many incidents of police officers using excessive force, killing innocent citizens across the US, and also increase in police brutality has led to the cameras not serving the initially intended purposes. In the US, many police departments have suffered the negative impacts of trust and confidence crisis from the public. More often many people have recorded incidents of police brutality and the use of excessive force against innocent citizens like in the recent cases of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor who were killed by law enforcement officers in full glare of the public. This study seeks to examine whether; the use of the body-worn camera enhances the public trust in the police. This study will, therefore, focus on the impact of cameras on student's perception in trusting and having confidence in the use of police force, understanding of the police legitimacy, and perceptions of police when they are wearing the cameras. Other major areas of research in this study include; whether the factor of the body-worn camera creates a positive impact on student perception when interacting with law enforcers and whether students feel more comfortable interacting with officers wearing a camera or not.
* Purpose of research/importance of research
The main purpose of this study is to examine whether the use of the body-worn cameras by law enforcers improves initial interactions when citizens realize that the cameras are on. To achieve this, the researcher will:
* Investigate whether citizens feel more comfortable and trust that the police officers will act accordingly and follow conduct on their behalf when the cameras are on
* Examine whether the factor of the body-worn camera has any positive impacts on student’s perception when interacting with the police
* Investigate the issue of police legitimacy and in regard to wearing the body-worn camera
This study is significant in providing insight into the issue of police brutality and whether the use of body-worn cameras can help in the reduction of the cases of excessive use of force and reduce the killing of innocent people. The study will also help to determine whether the use of the body-worn cameras will help in the enhancement of trust levels between the police and the citizens. This study will also help in opening the future discussion on whether; all police officers should be equipped with cameras as they go to work, and whether it would be mandatory for the cameras to be on for every officer.
* Research question
The major focus of this study is the analysis of the issue of the role of the body-worn cameras by the police in enhancing the levels of confidence among the citizens. The main research questions include;
* Does the factor of the body-worn camera have any positive impacts on student’s percept...