McNeil Building, Room 410
Evaluating the Impact of Deploying Body-Worn Cameras on New York City Police Department Officers
The 2013 federal court remedial order in the New York City stop, question, and frisk case, Floyd et al. v. City of New York, noted the potential benefits of outfitting New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers with body-worn cameras. Those possible benefits included creating objective records of stop and frisk encounters, encouraging lawful and respectful police-citizen interactions, alleviating mistrust between the NYPD and the public, and offering a way to help determine the validity of accusations of police misconduct. The court order directed the NYPD to work with the court-appointed independent monitor to conduct a one-year pilot program and randomized controlled trial (RCT) to determine whether the body-worn cameras yielded the desired impacts, and whether the program should be expanded or terminated. The monitor was charged with measuring the effectiveness of the cameras on a range of outcomes measures including the reduction of unconstitutional stops and frisks. During this colloquium, the RCT design and results will be presented and policy implications discussed.