“Lights, camera, action”: Pursuing justice and accountability through the camera lens

• In Event: Crime, Law and Deviance Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): 2: Technology and the Criminal Justice System

Abstract

Today, an increasing number of criminal events are recorded by ordinary citizens and posted online for myriad others to “witness” for themselves. With the ability to see crimes remotely, to share (and reshare) images though digital devices, and to comment about victims and suspects on social media, third parties now play outsized roles in regulating social behavior and holding wrongdoers accountable. The ability to capture crime on cell phone video has also led to a boom in efforts to “police the police,” especially exposing cases of police misconduct and most recently, excessive force used by ICE and Border control agents. Indeed, recording crime has become an integral part of social justice activism. This paper set out to shine a light on recorders, as activists and agents of social control. Using original survey data from the Crime Witness Survey (N=1401), the paper describes witnesses who record crime, types of crimes recorded, to whom they share their videos, and especially why they choose to record. Understanding recorders and their actions is an important task for future theory, research and policy on crime witnessing and social control in a digital age.

Author

• Karen G. Weiss, West Virginia University