Police body-worn cameras: Current state of knowledge in Canada
Body-worn cameras are currently seen as a technology that can potentially transform the police, increasing police transparency, accountability and legitimacy ; making investigations more efficient ; and improving the safety of citizens and police officers. However, the studies that have looked at the empirical effects of these cameras report conflicting results and have been undertaken mainly in the US. Given that social and legal contexts in Canada differ from those in the US, results from the latter can’t necessarily be transposed to Canada. There are, however, a few Canadian studies available to guide decision-making related to the implementation of body-worn cameras in Canadian police organizations. The aim of this paper is to provide a scoping review of the results of 28 studies on this topic done in Canada between 2010 and 2021. Three distinct categories of observations were found : 1) good practices for the use of body-worn cameras in Canadian police organizations, 2) the gap between expectations for this tool and its real potential, and 3) concerns about and limits of these cameras. While the paper sheds light on some positive effects of body-worn cameras in policing, it also starts a discussion on their payoff in light of their limits.