HMM: Police body cameras have little effect on officer, citizen behavior.

Police body cameras are not providing the type of irrefutable evidence that law enforcement and civil rights advocates had expected, according to the most comprehensive study of the technology to date.

“Although officers and citizens are generally supportive of [body camera] use, [they] have not had statistically significant or consistent effects on most measures of officer and citizen behavior or citizens’ views of police,” says a recent report from the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

Key findings show that body-worn cameras tend to reduce complaints against police. But researchers said it is unclear whether that is because improved officer conduct has led to fewer complaints or because citizens who know they are being recorded are less likely to file complaints.

But have they led to increased accountability?