Police Accountability And The Concrete Effects Of Body Cameras
Suat Cubukcu, American University; Erdal Tekin, American University; Nusret Sahin, Stockton University, and Volkan Topalli, Georgia State University
Without video evidence, it’s unlikely we would have ever heard of George Floyd or witnessed the prosecution of his killer, a Minneapolis police officer.
The recording of Floyd’s killing echoed the documentation in the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, two Black men who were killed at the hands of police.
The circulation of such videos – witness cellphones, dashcams and police body-worn cameras – have helped awaken a protest movement centered on police accountability and systemic racism in the United States.
They have also diminished trust in law enforcement, which has dipped to its lowest level since 1993, according to a 2020 Gallup...