Doctoral Dissertation Research: A Sociological Study of the Use of Body Worn Cameras in Police Departments in Colorado

本奖项为博士学位论文改进奖。它支持一项关于人体佩戴相机(BWCs)的研究。具体地说，调查人员提出了一项研究议程，以调查和解决三个主要问题：(1)白皮书如何影响警官个人层面的警察工作实践？(2)白皮书如何影响组织层面的警察工作实践？(3)这些变化是发生在警察工作实践中还是体现在警察工作实践中？为了解决三个问题，研究人员将使用分成两个阶段的多方法研究设计。这两个阶段的结果将构成学生博士论文的基础。这些成果将通过在加州大学丹佛分校和合作的警察部门举行的直接会议和研讨会与警方和更广泛的社区分享。这一研究项目的成果还将通过信息系统、机构研究和组织科学领域的主要学术期刊和会议传播。此外，该项目将支持一名少数民族学生的博士论文，该学生来自STEM领域代表性不足的人群。本研究计划分两个阶段进行。在第一阶段，调查人员将通过深入访谈、对警民互动的随行观察以及审查政策文件和科罗拉多州市政警察部门的内部统计数据，在多达10个案件地点审查采用《生物武器公约》的情况。对这些数据的分析将有助于对数据中反复出现的概念进行初步概括。根据这些定性数据的结果，调查员将进行德尔福研究(第二阶段)，以收集领域专家的反馈，并就第一阶段确定的案件结果和结构达成共识。关于理论框架，信息系统理论将与组织研究相结合，以便更有力地解释视频技术对警务的影响。这项研究将为关键讨论提供信息，例如警务组织抵制加强其问责制和透明度的努力，以及目前通过将监测活动扩大到相机供应商和数字存储空间供应商而转向第三方警务的趋势。

General Audience Summary This award is a doctoral dissertation improvement grant. It supports a study of Body Worn Cameras (BWCs). Specifically, the investigators propose a research agenda to investigate and address three main questions: (1) How do BWCs impact the practice of police work at the individual police officer level? (2) How do BWCs impact the practice of police work at the organizational level? (3) Are these changes emergent or embodied in the practice of police work? To address three questions, the investigators will use a multi-method research design separated into two phases. The results from the two phases will form the basis of the student's PhD dissertation. These results will be shared with the police and broader community through direct meetings and seminars held at UC Denver and the partnering police departments. The findings of this research project will also be disseminated through leading academic journals and conferences in the areas of information systems, institutional studies and organization science. In addition, this project will support the doctoral dissertation of a minority student from a population underrepresented in STEM fields. Technical Summary The research project has two phases. In Phase I, the investigators will examine the adoption of BWCs in up to 10 case sites, through in-depth interviews, ride-along observations of police-civilian interactions, and review of policy documents and internal statistics at municipal police departments in Colorado. Analysis of that data will help make preliminary generalizations of recurring concepts in the data. Drawing on the results of these qualitative data, the investigators will conduct a Delphi study (Phase II) to gather feedback from domain experts and converge on a consensus on case findings and constructs identified in Phase I. With regards to theoretical framing, Information systems theory will be integrated with organizational research in order to provide a more robust explanation of the impact of video technology on policing. The research will inform key discussions, such as the resistance of policing organizations to efforts to increase their accountability and transparency, as well as current trends towards third-party policing via the extension of monitoring activities to camera vendors and digital storage space providers.