Body cameras for referees are a poor solution

Ontario soccer referees will soon be equipped with bodyworn cameras (BWCs) in an effort to “stop aggressive abuse” at matches throughout the province.

This move follows a recent decision in the U.K. to run a BWC pilot that includes 100 soccer officials in an effort to “reduce” the mistreatment of referees. A recent altercation at a soccer match in Quebec has prompted further discussions about introducing BWCs to curb abuse of referees.

Equipping referees with BWCs will not have the intended effect, as well intentioned as it all may seem.

I speak from both personal and professional experience, as a university researcher who has written extensively about body cameras, and as a former baseball umpire, my first paid job.

Beginning at age 15, I umpired baseball for a dozen years, refereeing all levels ranging from tee ball (ages 4-7) to men’s baseball (18-plus), and everything between. I have experienced harassment firsthand.

As a 17-year-old, I was once chased to my car by angry parents following a decisive and correct call (according to the rule book) that sent one team to the championship round. I have been screamed at and threatened with violence by coaches more times than I can count, often by managers in front of their very own children who were on the team. A few of my umpire colleagues have been assaulted.

No one deserves this kind of treatment, especially in response to a game, no less.

However, equipping referees with body cameras is not the solution to curb abuse. The devices are incredibly costly and there is sparse evidence that they would work to prevent the kinds of mistreatment that we have seen.

Much of what we know about the efficacy of BWCs comes from policing. Body cameras have quickly become standard police equipment. The scientific evidence of the effectiveness of BWCs remains mixed and there is very little evidence to support that body cameras deter bad behaviour.

Research illustrates that people often do not recall when officers are wearing body cameras during citizen-police encounters, so whether BWCs will effectively deter behaviour continues to remain an assumed hypothesis. As further anecdotal evidence, one need only review publicly released police BWC footage to see people regularly ignoring police commands, all the while hurling verbal abuse at officers.

Among a litany of unaddressed concerns like privacy issues and data storage and management, is the matter of cost. How exactly will body cameras for sports referees be funded?

Taxpayers foot the bill for police BWCs which can cost millions of dollars a year in some municipalities. We can assume that organizations like Ontario Soccer will have to raise registration fees, passing associated costs along to parents and players for a costly technology with almost no evidence to justify its use as a deterrent mechanism.

There are other more sensible ideas.

Continuing to impose bans on game attendance for repeat offenders is one. I have found the mere threat of game forfeiture is a pretty good deterrent.

The solution to record everything merely abdicates personal responsible for bystanders to do the right thing and object to abuse in the moment. Doing so costs nothing and sets a benchmark for others to follow.