A Quantitative Study Exploring the Perceptions of Body-Worn Camera Use in the Texas Department of Juvenile Justice

Social justice issues led to the implementation of body-worn cameras (BWC) in police departments throughout the United States. This widespread implementation provided research results to assist other police agencies in considering implementation; however, no similar criminal justice solution for adult and juvenile corrections has been implemented with the same level of practicality. BWCs have the potential to protect inmates according to the Prison Rape Elimination Act’s (PREA) requirements and represent the most critical social justice issue in corrections: advocating civil rights. The former Texas Youth Commission (TYC) was re-branded as the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) due to a history of sexual assault and civil rights abuse (Cate, 2016; Donnelly, 2018). Applying the findings on BWC implementation by law enforcement agencies and the few existing studies in adult prisons reveals that implementing BWCs in juvenile justice provides an opportunity to thwart the perceptions of a lack of legitimacy and procedural justice. Yet, little research exists on implementing BWCs in a corrections environment. This study aims to examine TJJD facility staff perceptions of BWCs using pre-existing surveys following a non-experimental repeated cross-sectional research design exploring their perceptions of BWCs. Recommendations for further research include what BWC implementation procedures differ in corrections based upon differing usage and compliance procedures, requiring differing decision criteria for corrections environments. Keywords: Body-Worn Cameras, Juvenile Justice, Procedural Justice