National City police see decline in complaints after use of body worn cameras

Civilian complaints about police conduct dropped noticeably in the nine months after National City’s uniformed officers began wearing body cameras that record their interactions with the public, a report to the City Council shows.

There was no significant change in police use of force during the same period, however, an outcome that matches the results of a much larger study in Washington, D.C.

Body-worn cameras have been coming into widespread use in law enforcement since 2014. Besides providing evidence for use in prosecutions, part of the rationale for the devices has been an expectation that they would improve police behavior and reduce unnecessary use of force.

In National City, the results were mixed.

There were five civilian complaints between Feb. 2 and Nov. 1 compared with 11 during the same nine months of 2016, Lt. Robert Rounds said in a presentation to the council Tuesday. As a numerically small data pool, the single-digit drop translates to a decrease of nearly 55 percent.

Use of force went from 32 incidents in 2016 to 33 in 2017, Rounds said. “There wasn’t really a significant change from year to year,” he told the council.

The body cameras have been worn since Feb. 10 by all uniformed National City officers, including supervisors, patrol officers, traffic officers, school resource officers and the gang enforcement team.

The apparent lack of any effect on police use of force in National City matches a much larger field test involving more than 2,200 Washington, D.C., police officers, with about half wearing body cameras and half without. That 2½-year study, released in October, found that “body-worn cameras had no statistically significant effects on any of the measured outcomes,” including use of force and civilian complaints.

The apparent finding that the cameras didn’t make any difference in police-civilian interactions surprised many who saw the devices as a tool for transparency, accountability and reform after a spate of highly publicized shootings.

But law enforcement agencies considering adopting body cams “should not expect dramatic reductions in documented uses of force or complaints, or other large-scale shifts in police behavior, solely from the deployment of this technology,” the report by The Lab @ DC and D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department said.

The report didn’t reach any conclusions on why there was so little change, but speculated it may have been because there was little misconduct in the police department to begin with. Rounds said that may be the case in National City as well.

“Our officers use force when it’s appropriate,” he said in an interview. “Our officers are out there doing the right thing every day.”

Police file reports for review on any use of force, which runs the gamut from grabbing an arm to execute a “control hold,” to striking someone with a baton, using a Taser or pepper spray, or shooting.

Whatever the influence may be on police behavior, Rounds said the cameras still are seen as a plus, allowing the department’s command staff to better review use of force and determine whether it was justified.

And while body cams may have become popularized by a desire to change police behavior, Rounds said National City officers have found an effect on the other end as well.

“When people find out they’re being recorded, they become more polite and cooperative with the officer,” he said.

There’s no telling why the number of complaints against police decreased in 2017, but Rounds said it’s possible the video proof made possible by body-cam footage is discouraging false complaints.

National City uploads more than 100 recording to cloud storage daily, Rounds said, and they are accessible to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office.