Assessing Midwestern Police Leaders' Perceptions and Adoption Intent of Body-Worn Cameras

• Main Author: Stinson, Troy M.
• Language: EN
• Published: Capella University 2018
• Subjects: Law enforcement
• Online Access: http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10827886

<p> Leaderships perception of technology is an antecedent to the acceptance of technology and ultimately innovation within organizations. The specific technology under investigation in this study was body-worn cameras (BWCs) for law enforcement operations. Application of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) to measure the use and acceptance of BWCs among law enforcement was unique to this study. Extant literature on law enforcement BWCs does not adequately address leadership perceptions of emergent technology. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the four key constructs of the technological acceptance model of UTAU (performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions) and the intentions of law enforcement leaders to implement a BWC program in their department. The study was a quantitative nonexperimental correlational design to study the relationship between the four independent UTAUT variables and the dependent variable of behavioral intention. The participants were law enforcement leaders of police departments located in the midwestern United States. A multiple linear regression analysis revealed a significant correlative relationship between the four key constructs of the UTAUT and intentions to implement BWCs. Pearson correlation analyses revealed each of the independent variables was significantly related to behavioral intention. The null hypotheses for the main research question and subquestions were rejected. A significant implication of this study is the results expand current change management theory through the identification of leadership expectations of technology. Frontloading applicable research and background studies prior to the inception of intervention initiatives will allow organizational leadership to incorporate fact-based data to support or refute personal perceptions of emergent technology.</p><p>