When youth record police: Investigating officer intrusion and mental health repercussions among Black youth in Baltimore City, Maryland

Rationale

Recording the police is a high-stakes racial justice issue for minoritized youth and communities. No studies to date have explored youths’ efforts to record police and the mental health impacts of these experiences for youth.

Objective

This study examined the features and mental health repercussions of in-person stops where youth attempted to record police.

Methods

Data come from the Survey of Police-Adolescent Contact Experiences (SPACE), a cross-sectional survey of a community sample of Black youth ages 12–21 in Baltimore City, Maryland (n = 345), administered from August 2022 to July 2023.

Results

Youth commonly attempted to record police during direct stops (33.63%) and in-person witnessed stops (39.18%). Across both types of stops, youths’ attempts to record police were strongly associated with all forms of officer intrusion. Recording the police was also associated with significantly elevated police-initiated post-traumatic stress symptoms (PI-PTSS), even when adjusting for officer intrusion and other covariates. Recording the police was most relevant to PI-PTSS for stops with little to no officer intrusion.

Conclusion

In addition to systemic change that eliminates inequities in police violence against minoritized youth and communities, trauma-informed supports may be needed for youth who attempt to record police stops – even when stops feature little to no officer intrusion.