Final Technical Report for In-Car Video Project

• NCJ Number: 233344
• Date Published: January 2011
• Length: 16 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2007-IJ-CX-K011
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Award: In-Car Digital Video Camera Evaluation Project

Annotation

This report presents the methodology and findings of an evaluation of the implementation and performance of the in-car video (ICV) project administered by the Alabama Department of Public Safety (ADPS) under a grant from the National Institute of Justice.

Abstract

The ADPS purchased the equipment, including the ICV system, along with installation in the State trooper patrol vehicles assigned to the Quad Cities and Jacksonville Trooper Posts. The goals of the ICV program were to increase safety for citizens and officers, ensure officer integrity, and increase conviction rates by 10 percent for driving under the influence (DUI). The evaluation found that the project has been plagued with malfunctions of defective equipment. The original vendor company was sold, and although it initially appeared that the new owners would stand behind the product, this has not occurred. Currently, 30 (more than half) of the cameras are not functional; therefore, analysis of statistical data cannot produce valid results. Officer safety was expected to be improved through the monitoring capability of the ICV system when operating at peak efficiency; however, due to the unreliability of the equipment, there was no way to collect a sufficient amount of observational data regarding officer integrity and use for the targeted training. DUI conviction rates for 2007 were compared to 2008 in order to identify changes in DUI cases outcomes attributed to the use of ICVs. Both ICV Troops showed decreases in convictions for DUI, and not-guilty outcomes also decreased. These findings may be attributed to the general declining numbers of DUI citations as well as other programs that affected DUI case outcomes, such as pretrial diversion and the institution of the Zero-Tolerance Task Force, which has reduced the number of impaired drivers on the road. Appended data on DUI citations, county data for studied Trooper Posts, and data on DUI convictions by Post