California Police Chief- Fall 2013 CPCA_2018_Winter Magazine-FINAL | Page 25

targeting minorities and behaving disrespectfully to the public. While there have been a few incidents where this happened, most complaints where the officer’s behavior was documented by a BWC vindicated the officer, and showed that the complainant created most of the problem and/or fabricated the complaint. A study performed by CNA, a nonprofit research and analysis organization located in Arlington, Virginia, for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) compared the cost of performing misconduct complaint investigations with and without BWCs. CNA found that a complaint that did not involve a BWC took an average of 91 personnel hours and cost $6,776. When there was a BWC documenting the incident, the hour count went down to 7.33, at a cost of $554. CNA estimated that LVMPD avoided $4,006 in complaint investigation costs per year for every BWC user involved in the study. The same study showed that about 2/3 of the complaints against BWC-equipped officers could be cleared by reviewing the camera footage alone, avoiding the need to interview witnesses and gather statements. CNA also broke down the total costs of LVMPD’s BWC program, to include costs of hardware, licenses, infrastructure upgrades, training, monitoring use and responding to requests for camera footage. They placed the cost per user at $1,097 in 2014. This figure does not reflect the aforementioned cost avoidance of investigating personnel complaints. Even though the LVMPD study was based on a limited deployment, the cost savings were remarkable, far outpacing the cost of the program itself. A smaller agency might not see savings of this magnitude. Agencies of any size, however, will see greater transparency and better accountability to the public, which is of immeasurable value. It remains that most agencies, large and small, that have implemented BWCs have found them sufficiently worthwhile to continue the program, even if requires a significant capital expenditure. It’s one of a few innovations well-supported by both the public and the police. ■ About the Author: Tim Dees is a retired police officer and the former editor of two major law enforcement websites who writes and consults on technology applications in criminal justice. He can be reached at [email protected]. WINTER 2018 | California Police Chief 25