BODY CAMS AND LEGAL PROFESSIONALS
REQUESTS FOR FOOTAGE OF POLICE ACTIONS IN THE SÃO PAULO JUSTICE SYSTEM
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31060/rbsp.2025.v19.n2.2025Keywords:
Body cams, Judicial Power, Military Police, Criminal processAbstract
Based on a review of research on body-worn cameras used by police officers, we identified that few studies address how legal practitioners are dealing with this project; specifically, to what extent they have activated (or not) this technology to assess potential reports of police violence, torture, and fabricated arrests. Most studies focus on evaluating the impact of cameras on policing, especially regarding violence. Therefore, this research seeks to explore how legal practitioners have activated and/or requested police body-camera footage, in which types of cases, and which actors request such evidence, using a database of cases from 2022 concentrated in the city of São Paulo. The findings indicate that judges and public defenders are the primary requesters of footage, especially in cases involving drug trafficking and robbery, with significant variations in the flow of access and responses from the Military Police. In some instances, the footage contributed to defendants’ acquittals or challenged police narratives, while in others, judicial authorities disregarded the recordings. The study concludes that although body-worn cameras can serve as evidence and generate disputes within legal proceedings, their impact is still limited by the centrality of police narratives and the lack of standardized procedures for requesting and using footage.
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