Drawing on the literature on bureaucratic discretion, this study conducts a large-scale, nationwide causal analysis of the effects of body-worn cameras (BWC) in the United States (US). It employs a staggered difference-in-differences (DiD) approach using 12 years of panel data (2008-2019) covering 697 local police agencies. The findings indicate that BWC adoption had no significant effect on White arrests but led to an approximately 5.5% decrease in Black arrests. Importantly, the reduction in Black arrests was concentrated in alcohol-related cases, which involve considerable officer discretion, but did not extend to cases categorized as more serious public safety threats, such as violent or property crimes, where officer discretion may be more limited. Meanwhile, there was also a 7.7% increase in White arrests related to weapon offenses, aligning with prior studies that suggest BWCs may serve as a tool for evidence collection. Our findings provide insight into how BWCs have influenced police arrests in the US, advancing beyond previous single-case evaluations.

Research has consistently shown that officers' perceptions of deteriorated relationships with the public are associated with physical and emotional disengagement with their work. Anecdotal evidence suggests that this 'Ferguson Effect' has also contributed to reluctance to use necessary physical force in the course of their duties, leading to compromises for officer safety and public safety. This study has two objectives: first, it is the only study to systematically assess the claim that apprehensiveness to use force is associated with perceptions of community support; second, it examines whether use-of-force self-efficacy reduces apprehensiveness to use force. Using OLS regression of officer surveys from 4,000 police officers in a Southeastern U.S. state, we find support for both hypotheses, as well as evidence of interaction effects. We identify several practical implications for agency leaders, and further encourage the development of use-of-force self-efficacy as a substantively and theoretically meaningful concept for researchers.

Recent surveys suggest that confidence in police reached its lowest level on record in the wake of controversial police custody deaths and associated protests in recent years. Meanwhile, research has found links between perceptions of low public support for police and a variety of negative outcomes among police officers, including stress and withdrawal. The consequences of psychological stress, according to much other research, include a variety of physical health problems. The present study synthesizes these bodies of research by examining whether perceptions of low public support are associated with physical, somatic symptoms in police officers, including headaches, gastrointestinal problems, sleep disturbances, and upper respiratory infections. Structural equation modelling of 4,221 officer surveys from a Southeastern U.S. state collected in January of 2022 suggests that officers are quite literally worried sick about poor police-public relations, and that stress mediates this relationship. We discuss the implications of these findings for officer wellness and the relationship between mental and physical well being among officers. Furthermore, we discuss practical recommendations for police leaders who may be struggling to promote officer wellness during a period of intense public scrutiny.

In recent years, law enforcement officers in the USA have faced substantial new demands due to the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide community protests for racial justice and police reform. To understand the impacts of these new demands, this study investigates changes in officer work engagement and burnout over time and the role of public service motivation (PSM) in sustaining high work engagement and attenuating burnout. Using survey data collected in 2019 and 2021 from all officers working in a state-level police organization in the Midwest region of the USA, we find not only that officer work engagement has decreased and burnout has increased but also that PSM is an important predictor of officer work engagement. Contrary to our expectation, we also observe a positive relationship between PSM and burnout among frontline officers in 2019 and no evidence of a relationship in 2021. These findings confirm the adverse impacts of COVID-19 and community unrest on officer work engagement and burnout and suggest that PSM generally enhances officer work engagement but under certain conditions may also increase officer burnout.

Drawing on job demands-resources theory, our study investigates the role of public service motivation can play maintaining high engagement and lowering the likelihood of burnout among frontline officers. Although there is extensive literature on how PSM affects public sector employees generally, less research looks at PSM and law enforcement officers especially in the U.S. As enforcement organizations continue to respond to respond to calls for improvements in accountability and expand their community engagement efforts, they must also take steps to guard officers against the emotional exhaustion and burnout associated with serving the public in difficult jobs and under high pressure and scrutiny. Using survey data collected from large state-level law enforcement organization at multiple time periods, we find consistent evidence supporting the expected positive association between PSM and officer work engagement. Contrary to our expectation, we also observe a weak positive relationship between PSM and reports of burnout among frontline officers in 2019 and no evidence of a relationship in 2021. These findings suggest that PSM can serve as a lever to improve officer engagement and that there may be potential conditions under which PSM may exacerbate rather than mitigate employee burnout.