Introduction of body-worn cameras to police procedures: The role of sousveillance
Purpose:
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of sousveillance, i.e., bottom-up surveillance. The concept of sousveillance will be compared to classic surveillance (or top-down surveillance). This research will determine: (1) whether the sousveillance and surveillance attitudes are related to the attitude towards police body-worn cameras and (2) which factors are associated with the sousveillance and surveillance attitudes and whether the same factors are associated with both mentioned concepts.
Design/Methods/Approach:
To answer the research questions, we conducted an online survey in the Slovenian language. The survey was distributed on the social network Facebook (n = 249). The sample and the obtained data were presented with descriptive statistics, and the research model was tested by correlation analysis.
Findings:
The results of the research are twofold. First, they suggest that both attitudes toward sousveillance and surveillance are related to attitudes toward police body-worn cameras. Second, attitudes toward sousveillance and surveillance cannot be predicted by the same factors. The correlation analysis indicates that all predictor factors are correlated to the attitude towards surveillance, while only the perceived legitimacy of the police is (negatively) correlated to the attitude towards sousveillance.
Research Limitations / Implications:
This research can support future studies in measuring attitudes toward sousveillance. The finding that different factors from those related to control must be used to determine the links between factors and attitudes towards control may also help future research. The main limitations of this study are sampling, which does not allow the generalization of the results to the population, and selection method of factors related to the attitudes towards control and surveillance.
Originality/Value:
First, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first quantitative research on sousveillance in Slovenia. Second, this is one of the first studies that measured sousveillance concerning police body-worn cameras, i.e., how the public’s attitude towards sousveillance is related to the public’s attitude towards bodyworn cameras.
UDC: 351.741
Keywords: surveillance, sousveillance, police powers, introduction of new technologies, body-worn cameras