Understanding Body-Worn Camera Adoption

In this chapter, the authors examine the past, present, and future of police BWCs. The spread of BWCs in policing has been extraordinary, especially given the cost and degree of difficulty in implementing and managing a BWC program. In this chapter, the authors use two different, complementary lenses to explain the rapid spread of BWCs. The first is the diffusion of innovations framework. The second lens is the evidence-based policing framework. Both the diffusion of innovation and evidence-based policing frameworks provide insights on the “how and why” questions regarding current rates of BWC adoption, and just as important, they provide an informed position to consider the prospects for BWCs in the future.