Committee Chair

Rausch, David W.

Committee Member

Crawford, Elizabeth K.; Banks, Steven; Garland, Tammy S.

Department

School of Professional Studies

College

College of Health, Education, and Professional Studies

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

The present study sought to examine the relationships between police officers’ demographic and experiential characteristics and their perceptions of body-worn camera programs. If relationships were present, further examination would seek to identify any characteristics were predictive of the officers’ support for a body-worn camera program and their willingness to wear a body-worn camera. There were four research questions in the study: 1. Are there relationships in police perceptions of body-worn cameras based on demographic characteristics such as age, sex, race, or education? 2. If there are relationships in police perceptions of body-worn cameras based on demographic characteristics, what characteristics, if any, may be predictive of police perceptions of body-worn camera use? 3. Are there relationships in police perceptions of body-worn cameras based on prior policing experiences such as rank, years of service, or internal affairs experience? 4. If there are relationships in police perceptions of body-worn cameras based on prior policing experiences, what prior policing experiences may be predictive of police perception of body-worn camera use? The data included responses from a survey administered to 169 police officers. A Spearman’s Rho correlation analysis was conducted to examine research questions one and three. This analysis showed several statistically significant correlations. Classification/rank, length of service, and use of force complaints all demonstrated relationships with age. Race demonstrated a relationship with BWC adoption. Classification/rank demonstrated relationships with length of service and education. Finally, the variable of BWC adoption demonstrated a relationship with BWC comfort. A series of linear regression analyses were conducted in order to examine any predictive relationships among the variables to address research questions two and four. While the findings of the regression models were not as robust as the correlation models, one predictive relationship was identified between length of service and officer comfort with wearing a body-worn camera. The present study serves to inform police administrators about officer characteristics that may prove to cause resistance to body-worn camera programs by police officers. Through a better understanding of these characteristics, police administration could target officers through training, communication, or involvement in an effort to improve officer adoption of new policies.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank all of members of the Criminal Justice Program at UTC. Many of you have inspired me through my education. Many of you have mentored me. I wish my mentor and friend, Vic Bumphus, could have seen me finish. To Dr. Rausch, thank you for making such a daunting process run so smoothly. You helped me do something I never truly thought I would do. Thank you so much for the pushes and direction along the way. To Drs. Banks, Crawford, and Garland, your guidance and knowledge have helped me push forward through the complicated process of a dissertation. You have all been exactly what I needed to be successful.

Degree

Ph. D.; A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Date

5-2021

Subject

Police; Wearable video devices

Keyword

policing; criminal justice; body-worn cameras

Document Type

Doctoral dissertations

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

ix, 57 leaves

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Download

Share

COinS