The Impacts of Body-Worn Cameras Footage on Case Preparation and Resolution Processes: A Case Study of the Coruscant County Prosecutor’s Office

• In Event: Prosecutorial Decision-making and the Prosecutorial Process, Alternatives to trial Panel

Abstract

Body-worn cameras (BWC) research has proliferated significantly over the last decade as this technology has diffused across police agencies globally. Extant scholarship has predominantly fixated on police outcomes, police perceptions, and police processes leaving only a handful of studies have explored this technology outside of a policing context. Relying on 35 semi-structured interviews conducted with members belonging to a prosecutorial organization in the United States, this study explores how the influx of body-worn cameras has impacted the way prosecutors prepared for and resolved cases. We find that BWC footage compels prosecutors to spend more time preparing for cases than before this technology was readily available. However, the availability of BWC footage helps resolve cases much faster. At the same time, we found that these impacts are not uniform and depend on the types of cases assigned to prosecutors, the type of technology police departments have implemented, and relationships with the defense. These findings yield important implications for policy, practice, and research.

Authors

• Marthinus Christoffel Koen, SUNY Oswego

• Madeline DeVito, SUNY Oswego