Perspectives from the Latino Community on Policing and Body Worn Cameras
Over the past two years, a large and growing number of police departments around the country have rolled out body worn cameras (BWCs) as a response to public outrage over police abuse and brutality, particularly in communities of color. Today, approximately 6,000 law enforcement agencies reportedly use these devices, and over $40 million in federal grants have been provided to expand BWC programs. There’s a widespread expectation that BWCs will improve policing practices, enhance police accountability and transparency, and improve the relationship between law enforcement and communities.
Despite broad support for BWCs from the federal government, police departments, and the public, civil rights and community advocates have expressed trepidation over the rapid introduction of these devices, and concerns about the lack of policy safeguards to protect civil right and personal privacy. Especially in heavily policed minority communities, many residents fear that BWCs will be used as a surveillance tool that will reinforce — rather than alleviate — racial profiling and ethnic biases. Moreover, the public has become increasingly skeptical after high-profile cases of departments withholding footage or officers tampering with footage, especially in cases where young Black or Brown men have been shot dead by police.
Little research exists on community views regarding the use of BWCs, particularly within minority communities where there’s the greatest risk of police abuse and racist practices. While survey research generally shows a high-level of public support for BWCs, a recent study in Florida revealed that people with the most negative views of the police — and those most concerned about crime in their neighborhoods — show the least support for BWCs and do not believe that the devices will benefit their communities. These counterintuitive findings fly in the face of the researchers’ hypothesis that those with negative views of police would be the most supportive of BWCs, since they are often touted as an answer to police abuse.
Almost no research exists on the perceptions and experiences of Latino communities in particular, and, as a result, such perspectives have remained underrepresented in the public discourse and in national and local policy debates. Like Black communities, Latino communities are often poor, racially and socially isolated, and heavily policed. These communities often tend to distrust law enforcement — both the local police and federal agencies, like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — for reasons related to immigration enforcement. If BWCs are indeed meant to protect local communities, it is crucial that we further understand the attitudes and experiences regarding these cameras in Latino communities.
The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) embarked on a small qualitative research project in 2016 to find out what Latino communities think of police BWCs by documenting Latino attitudes, perceptions, and knowledge of both policing and BWCs in Chicago and Washington, DC. We conducted four focus groups of immigrant and nonimmigrant residents, with separate discussions for adults and youth in each city. While the results are not statistically generalizable, they do offer some insight into the experiences and opinions of Latinos living in highly policed neighborhoods.
Policing in Latino Communities
We started by asking participants about their overall experience with and perspectives of policing.
First, we saw that racial and ethnic profiling is central to Latino experiences with the police. Participants described how stereotyping and implicit bias contributes to differential treatment by the police.
“It is a culture in the police, an “us against them” attitude, where all minorities are suspect. A Latino gets pulled over for speeding, and has to be worried about being searched, asked for papers, not just getting a ticket like a person that is White.” (Chicago, Adult, M)
Participants from immigrant families feared being stopped by police and referred to ICE, or being stopped directly by ICE.
“I think in general, there’s a climate of fear that the police have given our communities. If you’re undocumented the police comes and there’s a general fear that they could potentially take you in, ICE could come, they could get deported.” (DC, Adult, F)
Many participants perceived the police’s role as unfair, stating that they protect wealthy White neighborhoods while surveilling, criminalizing, and neglecting communities of color.
“[The police] were put here to help all people, but they’re not doing that. They’re protecting property, they’re protecting the assets of rich people. They’re protecting the north side.” (Chicago, Youth, M)
“The police drive around, creating this fear. And they say that their enemy is drugs or whatever, but it’s really people. White people get help for drugs, they get sent to rehab. But poor Black and Brown people get sent to prison for having an addiction problem.” (Chicago, Youth, M).
Police culture, broadly speaking, was characterized as over-aggressive, trigger-happy, and militarized.
“The style of paramilitary gear they wear sends a very threatening message. I remember that when I was a kid it was different. Now its black SUVs, assault rifles, army fatigues. It’s designed to create fear, not to protect and serve.” (Chicago, Adult, M)
“When you get pulled over in Montgomery County, there’s six cops. It’s not one, it’s six. It’s intimidating. They have rifles on them. And they use intimidating tactics in order to instill fear in you. They look like a SWAT team.”
(DC, Adult, M)
Participants expressed strong concerns around inadequate police training.
“The police don’t understand the problems of poverty, they don’t understand what is going on with people. They do not get enough training on how to work with poor people, those who are disenfranchised.” (Chicago, Adult, M)
“We have a lot of military people that are coming back to law enforcement, that have PTSD, that don’t get the resources as veterans to come back. Now they’re placed in a position of law enforcement, in which they don’t have the current training that they need to deal with the community here.” (DC, Adult, M)
Fears around aggressive policing and profiling generate a significant lack of trust in the police. Participants described feeling “in-between fires” — exposed to crime in their own neighborhoods, but afraid to call or rely on the police.
“So we’re stuck in this middle situation where some of us live in communities that aren’t safe and we’re walking home and we don’t feel safe walking down the block. But at the same time, I also don’t feel comfortable calling a police officer.” (DC, Adult, M)
“There are a lot of times when our people are afraid to speak up. People who are undocumented, or even documented, they might come from countries where governments are very repressive, so they are afraid.” (Chicago, Adult, F)
This problematic assessment of the police was nonetheless balanced out by discussions of “good cops” — those who care about the community’s well-being and safety — and of recent attempts to implement viable community policing programs.
“The city is doing the police task force forums after the Laquan McDonald shooting. Now it’s different, it’s much better. I’m working on a quality of life plan for the community, it brings together schools, residents, businesses to work on a plan to make Pilsen safe. The police participate — the commander does not want to lock people up for everything. He wants to know if we can drop kid off at a boys and girls club, YMCA so he can focus on the serious crime.” (Chicago, Adult, M)
“The police biking program is good. We see the police interacting with people, with young kids. They stop and speak to people, giving them a more friendly personality, the kids can touch the lights on the bike, and they laugh and smile.” (Chicago, Adult, F)
Body worn cameras in Latino communities
After discussing general concerns about policing, facilitators turned to the issue of body cameras.
Participants held diverse perspectives on the effectiveness and desirability of BWCs, ranging from highly skeptical to cautiously optimistic that they could improve policing in communities of color. However, opinions generally focused on skeptical end of the spectrum, with participants stating that BWCs waste resources, exist primarily to protect the police rather than the public, and promote a false image of police accountability.
“I don’t think we should pay for BWCs. It’s like a flashlight, or a piece of jewelry that you decide to wear when it looks good. The police cameras are almost like an insurance policy for a car: people will say yes, and it will cost a certain amount of money, because they just want that peace of mind. But it’s an insurance for the cops, not for the citizens of Chicago.” (Chicago, Adult, F)
“Technology doesn’t guarantee anything. They can have the tapes but do nothing with them.” (Chicago, Adult, F)
Some participants felt that BWCs are an extension of the broader surveillance and profiling of minorities.
“We could talk about body cameras, but really what it is just surveillance of Black and Brown communities.” (DC, Adult, F)
“So I guess, now that police probably have this camera on them, they’ll still target Latinos and African Americans, but they won’t target white people because they’re just going to assume that African American and Latino people are doing something that’s bad or they think is bad.” (Chicago, Youth, M)
Some feared that BWCs, in conjunction with other technologies such as facial recognition, will be particularly detrimental for undocumented immigrants.
“I think that the biggest problem will be for the immigrant community. We know that there is a program named Priority Enforcement Program (PEP), where the police have to share information with the immigration authorities. So, for that reason we will be the most affected by the cameras, they will be able to locate people with them, and the PEP requires that the police collaborate. With a system of facial recognition, they can know where you are. There are many cases, especially those who have electronic shackles, the police know where they at all moments. So, the main problem will be for immigrants.” (DC, Adult, M)
But some participants worried that BWCs will actually reduce police discretion and replace policing with a “robotic” approach.
“I get very concerned of searches where the police officer just stops someone, a routine stop, maybe even just a profile stop, and that person turns out to be undocumented. It’s on camera. The police officer might not want to report this person, right? But now it’s on camera, so what’s going to happen to the police officer? What’s going on in their mind?” (Chicago, M)
Despite these misgivings, many participants felt that BWCs are theoretically a good tool to promote accountability and civility among police and public, to produce evidence for court hearings, and to protect both the public and police. Some felt that the cameras should particularly benefit minorities and immigrants by reducing the chances of racial profiling in policing.
“I feel like the body camera will bring more equality to Latinos or African Americans. We will have the privileges that some of the White people have when they get stopped by a cop. The police will be on better behavior.” (DC, Youth, F)
“Without the body cameras, a cop could be thinking that they can get away with abusing and using excessive force. On the other hand, the cameras could show the truth, that they were in fact using excessive force. And the immigrants come out on top, so to say, demonstrating their innocence, but also standing up for their rights.” (DC, Adult, F)
These more positive opinions, however, were almost always expressed with reservations and caveats. Some worried about police discretion over activating cameras.
“If you’re going to have the camera, they should be on from the time you walked out of the station until you came back and you reported out. Everything should be documented.” (DC, Adult, M)
“Honestly, there’s no purpose if they can actually turn the thing on and off.” (DC, Youth, M)
Others noted the possibility of the police tampering with and manipulating footage.
“The police will find a way to not show what they do not want to. Some cops have been reported for destroying their own dashboard cameras. Some cops are leaving their car out through the window so as to not activate their BWC or Dashcams, because they know that’s when they turn on. They’ll find a way around any technology.” (Chicago, Adult, M)
Participants also had concerns regarding who can see video footage.
“I mean, everybody likes their privacy. But if it comes down to an actual court case, it should be shared with the people just to let them know what really happened. But if it’s a situation where the cops arrested someone, like, plain and simple, it shouldn’t have to be everybody’s business.” (Chicago, Youth, M)
And some pointed out that particularly vulnerable populations, like domestic violence victims, should have extra protections.
“[There should be limits to who sees the videos], especially when it comes to women who suffer domestic violence because it took a lot of courage for them to call the police and to say I’m not taking it anymore. So, if I had been beaten by my man and I took the courage to call the police, I don’t want them to release the video and have everybody see me all bruised up. And plus, he might tell somebody and that somebody might come and kill me. So, no, I don’t want the video to go anywhere.” (DC, Youth, F)
Overall, most participants were supportive of BWCs — but only on the condition that there are measures in place to ensure that they are used properly and judiciously, that they are introduced through linguistically and culturally competent engagement with the community, and that they are instituted within an environment of positive community policing.
I think it’s really important that we think about cultural competency, and that we provide education on what it means to have a body worn camera in dual language. We need community leaders and Latino cops explaining what a body worn camera is. (DC, Adult, F)
But if BWCs are introduced in an environment of continued police impunity, militarization, and racial profiling — that is, in the absence of change in the police culture — some participants believed that BWCs are a waste of money.
“You know, you can put a camera and put whatever you want on a cop, but if you don’t change the way they’re trained, their goals, and also hold them accountable…We should be bringing better leaders in charge of the police departments and, you know, with progressive ideas, so police are actually going to come and care about the community, and not just be enforcers.”
(DC, Adult, M)“I feel like, the cameras are little bit like Tylenol, it only treats the disease for a little bit. But it’s like, we might have all this evidence, but we’ve seen certain kids that are beat and that get shot by the police, but nothing gets done. We have the evidence, but there’s no justice.” (DC, Adult, M)
Many participants felt that given the amount of money and resources it takes to administer BWCs and store, redact, and analyze footage, it would be more effective to invest in the root cause of the problem: better policing, crime reduction, and trust-building in communities of color. Some of their recommendations included improved police training, including areas like cultural competence and mental health; psychological support for police; diversifying the police force so that it better represents the community; more investment in community mental health programs; improving schools; providing jobs and workforce training and youth programs; and more broadly, investing in and protecting low-income communities of color.
“We should spend the funds — instead of the police funds, we should use those funds into creating jobs, fixing our education, and fixing up neighborhoods. Build more mental health care centers, more art programs. And that will actually lower down the crime and actually help out the minority.”
(Chicago, Youth, M)
Going Forward
Civil rights organizations, including NCLR, have cautioned that BWCs should be introduced into communities within a framework of best practices and policies that ensure police accountability and transparency. As our focus groups show, while most participants were theoretically supportive of BWCs, they are concerned about issues like officer discretion to activate cameras, manipulation and review of footage by police, and privacy, among others things. These concerns line up with those raised by other communities and advocates, and were the impetus behind the development of Civil Rights Principles on Body Worn Cameras by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights in 2015.
The focus groups highlight additional concerns Latino communities have around the introduction and use of BWCs. To participants, BWCs are seen as tools for policing that are only as good as the police culture that deploys them. They are not a substitute for reforming or improving policing. Communities need linguistically and culturally competent dialogue and engagement around the use and benefits of BWCs. More broadly, without a significant change in police culture to decrease implicit bias and profiling, remove abuse and corruption within police agencies, improve training in cultural and mental health aspects of policing, and promote greater trust between communities and police, BWCs will have little impact on the well-being of Latino and other communities of color. On the contrary, BWCs deployed in the context of racial profiling, especially of immigrants, only serve to increase police surveillance in Latino communities.
Clearly, there is a problem of trust between many Latino communities and police. Fear of immigration enforcement by police tends to reinforce this distrust — and this has been amplified in today’s atmosphere of significant anxiety in immigrant communities. Given this reality, it is perhaps not surprising that overall, Latino focus group respondents expressed relatively tepid support for BWCs. As many stated, reducing crime, enhancing trust in and relationships with police, and strengthening overall community cohesion are more likely to happen through greater investments in poverty alleviation, community mental health and other services, education and job training programs, and expanded community policing efforts than they are through flawed deployments of BWCs.
“We yearn for a new generation of police officers these days. What we really need in our Latino communities are community leaders, someone to enforce the law, but also to be a part of the community. And that goes back to why the Latino community doesn’t feel comfortable going to a police officer when something bad happens.” (DC, Adult, M)
Patricia Foxen is the Deputy Director of Research at the National Council of La Raza.
