Divergence and Convergence on Police Transparency: Comparing Officers' and Citizens' Preferences on Body-Worn Camera Footage Release

The adoption of body-worn cameras (BWCs) by law enforcement agencies is commonly viewed as a means of enhancing police transparency, holding officers accountable, and building trust with the communities they serve. The effectiveness of BWCs in promoting police transparency, however, is still debatable, with many jurisdictions still lacking clear BWC footage disclosure policies. Following a mixed-method design, this article investigates the perspectives of officers and citizens on police transparency and, more specifically, the divergences and convergences in their expectations regarding BWC footage release. The data were collected from 78 police officers (through interviews and focus groups) and 1,609 citizens from the province of Quebec (through phone surveys). The two groups share the belief that the public release of BWC footage is significant in promoting police transparency. Yet they hold differing views on its use to reach accurate assessments of police interventions. While citizens expressed worries about the integrity of BWC footage, officers appeared more concerned about the potential misunderstanding of events following the release of BWC footage. The variations in expectations between officers and the public highlight the multifaceted nature of police transparency, which should serve to inform future BWC footage disclosure policies. L'adoption de cameras d'intervention par les forces de l'ordre est generalement consideree comme un moyen d'ameliorer la transparence des activites policieres, de responsabiliser les agentes et d'etablir un lien de confiance avec le public. Cependant, l'efficacite des cameras d'intervention a promouvoir la transparence policiere demeure discutable, de nombreux territoires n'ayant toujours pas de politiques claires concernant la divulgation des sequences enregistrees par ces cameras. Utilisant une methode mixte, cet article explore les vues des policiers et policieres et des citoyennes sur la transparence policiere, notamment les divergences et convergences de leurs attentes envers la divulgation des contenus enregistres. Les donnees proviennent de 78 agentes de police (entrevues et groupes de discussion) et de 1 609 citoyennes du Quebec (sondages telephoniques). Les deux groupes croient que la divulgation publique des images des cameras d'intervention est importante pour promouvoir la transparence policiere. Mais leurs vues divergent quant a la pertinence de cette divulgation pour l'evaluation exacte des interventions. Tandis que les citoyennes se preoccupent de l'integrite des images divulguees, les agentes semblent s'inquieter davantage de l'incomprehension potentielle des evenements apres la divulgation. Les attentes differentes des agentes et du public mettent en evidence le caractere multidimensionnel de la transparence, et cela devrait servir dans la formulation des futures politiques de divulgation des contenus obtenus par camera d'intervention.