AEA RCT Registry

General Information

Title

Enhancing Accountability and Transparency: The Impact of Body-Worn Cameras in the Presence of Elevated Crime and Police Lethality

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0013190

Initial registration date

June 03, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published

June 24, 2024, 12:07 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name

Pedro Souza

Affiliation

Queen Mary University of London

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Fernando Stragliotto

PI Affiliation

Queen Mary University of London

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2024-06-09

End date

2024-12-31

Keywords

Crime, Violence, & Conflict, Governance

Additional Keywords

JEL code(s)

C93, D73, D74

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

We study the implementation of body-worn cameras (BWCs) by the Military Police in the state of Bahia, Brazil. The state has one of the highest criminality rates and the second highest police lethality in the country. The process is starting with a pilot run in a few precincts of the capital city, Salvador, making use of 85 cameras. We randomized the roster of police officers with public facing duties across the precincts to either a treatment or a control group in a 1:1 ratio. Those selected to use the cameras will do so in every shift; control officers will not wear the camera in any shift. We stratify by police precinct and type of policing; when a shift had two or more units with differential spatial coverage, we further stratified by shift. Our analysis is done at the police dispatch/event level in which police-citizen interactions unfold.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Souza, Pedro and Fernando Stragliotto. 2024. "Enhancing Accountability and Transparency: The Impact of Body-Worn Cameras in the Presence of Elevated Crime and Police Lethality." AEA RCT Registry. June 24. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13190-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

We study the implementation of body-worn cameras (BWCs) by the Military Police in the state of Bahia, Brazil. The state has one of the highest criminality rates and the second highest police lethality in the country. The process is starting with a pilot run in a few precincts of the capital city, Salvador, making use of 85 cameras. We randomized the roster of police officers with public facing duties across the precincts to either a treatment or a control group in a 1:1 ratio. Those selected to use the cameras will do so in every shift; control officers will not wear the camera in any shift. We stratify by police precinct and type of policing; when a shift had two or more units with differential spatial coverage, we further stratified by shift. Our analysis is done at the police dispatch/event level in which police-citizen interactions unfold.

Intervention Start Date

2024-06-09

Intervention End Date

2024-09-09

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

(i) Indicator if the event generated a police report; (ii) Indicator if there was any victim reported; (iii) "Citizen Behavior"; (iv) Use of Force; (v) Indicator for Arrests and Handcuffs; (vi) Number of complaints against police officers; (vii) Duration of judicial proceeding; At the time of registration it is unclear whether we will have access to data that will allow us to construct all measures.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Citizen Behavior is an indicator if there was any charges of contempt, disobedience or resistance towards officers; Use of Force is an indicator if there was any deployment of physical, non-lethal or lethal force by the police;

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

(a) indicator if case of misdemeanour; (b) indicator if police officer activate the equipment

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

BWC Assignment: From the roster of 167 sworn police officers with public facing duties we stratified them into blocks based on (i) precinct and (ii) officer main activity type (tactical, preventive or ostensive operations); we further stratify by shift when a shift had two or more units with differential spatial coverage (5 out of the total 22 stratification blocks). We then randomize units within each strats in a 1:1 ratio between treatment and control group. Units/officers selected to use the cameras will do so in every shift; control officers will not wear the camera in any shift.

Experimental Design Details

Not available

Randomization Method

Computer Randomization

Randomization Unit

BWC randomization unit is the spatial coverage (within shift)

Was the treatment clustered?

Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

22 stratification blocks

Sample size: planned number of observations

180 events per day on average before the randomization x 104 experimental days = 18.720 events

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

31 treated units (82 officers), 34 control units (85 officers)

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name

IRB Approval Date

IRB Approval Number

Analysis Plan