Facilitating police reform: Body cameras, police-involved homicides, and law enforcement outcomes

Taeho Kim

Journal of Public Economics, 2025, vol. 248, issue C

Abstract: Body-worn cameras (BWCs) have emerged as a crucial reform to restore police legitimacy. However, there remains limited evidence on the conditions under which BWCs reduce use of force and affect broader agency-wide outcomes. Using a quasi-experimental event study design, I analyze data from 593 U.S. police agencies to estimate the effects of BWC adoption. I find that reductions in police-involved homicides are heterogeneous—concentrated in regions with higher prior levels of such incidents and in agencies with stricter activation requirements, with no measurable change in low-incident regions or agencies with weaker policies. This study also provides the first evidence on agency-wide outcomes, finding no significant trade-offs in overall arrest or crime rates. These findings offer insight into when BWCs are most likely to enhance police accountability and performance.

Keywords: Policing; Body cameras; Monitoring; Bureaucracy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H40 K40 M50 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:248:y:2025:i:c:s0047272725001227

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2025.105424

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