Cops, Cameras, and Crisis: The Potential and the Perils of Police Body-Worn Cameras

Review\n"Cops, Cameras, and Crisis is a timely and important contribution to understanding a contemporary policing reform effort. It breaks through the rhetoric and provides readers with the empirical realities associated with police body worn cameras. It is a must-read for police researchers and policymakers and practitioners." -- Charles M. Katz, co-author of The Police in America: An Introduction\n"This concise, meticulous, and well-written book provides an extraordinary contribution to the larger policing literature in general and to the literature on police body-worn cameras more specifically. Written in an accessible and scholarly tone, this book provides the reader with a well-balanced history of body-worn cameras, a thorough, rigorous, and unbiased review of the extant empirical research in the area, and a thoughtful list of recommendations for future research. This book should be on the shelf of all academics, researchers, and practitioners interested in the topic, and is well suited for undergraduate and graduate coursework." -- Wesley G. Jennings, co-author of Criminological and Criminal Justice Research Methods\n2021 Outstanding Academic Title, Choice Magazine\nThe first expert and comprehensive analysis of the surprising impact of body-worn cameras\nFollowing the tragic deaths of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and others at the hands of police, interest in body-worn cameras for local, state, and federal law enforcement has skyrocketed. In Cops, Cameras, and Crisis, Michael D. White and Aili Malm provide an up-to-date analysis of this promising technology, evaluating whether it can address today’s crisis in police legitimacy.\nDrawing on the latest research and insights from experts with field experience with police-worn body cameras, White and Malm show the benefits and drawbacks of this technology for police departments, police officers, and members of the public. Ultimately, they identify―and assess―each claim, weighing in on whether the specter of being “caught on tape” is capable of changing a criminal justice system desperately in need of reform.\nCops, Cameras, and Crisis is a must-read for policymakers, police leaders, and activists interested in twenty-first-century policing.