Description:
Violence against police officers is a current issue in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The use of body-worn cameras is increasingly being discussed as a measure against this violence. In German-speaking countries, there are now various model projects in which the use of body-worn cameras is tested and scientifcally evaluated. This article presents the findings of such a model project, which was carried out in the city of Zurich in 2017. The study addresses the question of how prevalent different attitudes toward body-worn cameras are among police officers and how these attitudes changed throughout the pilot project. The findings show that body-worn cameras are rated very differently. Almost all police officers appreciate the technical features and the additional possibilities for securing evidence. However, signifcantly fewer respondents think that they protect them against violence. All in all, however, more than half of the police officers are in favour of body-worn cameras. Comparing the two surveys, which were slightly longer than half a year apart, there is a signifcant drop in the approval of body-worn cameras.