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Community perceptions: procedural justice, legitimacy and body-worn cameras

Paige S. Thompson (Justice Policy Center, Urban Institute, Washington, District of Columbia, USA)
Bryce E. Peterson (Justice Policy Center, Urban Institute, Washington, District of Columbia, USA)
Daniel S. Lawrence (Justice Policy Center, Urban Institute, Washington, District of Columbia, USA)

Policing: An International Journal

ISSN: 1363-951X

Article publication date: 23 April 2020

Issue publication date: 2 June 2020

735

Abstract

Purpose

This paper explores community members' perceptions of the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD)'s body-worn camera (BWC) program, examining knowledge and support of the program and its impact on views of procedural justice and legitimacy.

Design/methodology/approach

A two-wave, online survey was administered to Milwaukee-area residents in the fall of 2017 and summer of 2018, yielding 1,527 respondents. Multivariate regression analyses focus on overall relationships between sociodemographic characteristics, community member knowledge of the program, procedural justice and legitimacy and support for BWCs.

Findings

Community members are supportive of BWCs and view officers as procedurally just and legitimate; however, perceptions were significantly lower among Black respondents. Respondents with knowledge of the BWC program were more likely to view officers as procedurally just, but program knowledge did not increase support for it.

Research limitations/implications

Police agencies may benefit from improving community awareness of their BWC program as knowledge of the program is positively linked to the views of departmental procedural justice and legitimacy. However, education efforts alone are not sufficient in improving police–community relations. Future research should examine how policing stakeholders can engage the community to build views of legitimacy associated with BWC policies.

Originality/value

Findings provide insight into community member perceptions of a large BWC program in a major US city. Results demonstrate the relationship between knowledge of a department's BWC program and views of procedural justice and legitimacy and support for BWCs.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This project was supported by Grant No. 2015-WY-BX-0006 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Office for Victims of Crime, and the SMART Office. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. We would like to thank staff from the Milwaukee Police Department, especially Sgt. Doug Wiorek, who played a significant role in working with the researchers for this study and article.

Citation

Thompson, P.S., Peterson, B.E. and Lawrence, D.S. (2020), "Community perceptions: procedural justice, legitimacy and body-worn cameras", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 43 No. 3, pp. 495-509. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-10-2019-0161

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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