Technology has improved modern life in nearly every area — medicine, work productivity, communications, even entertainment. But the possibilities of technology are even more exciting when you consider what it can do to increase civility and reduce violence. A new study by the University of South Florida shows one way it will in the future.

Forty-six officers of Orlando’s Police Department were outfitted with $600 body-worn cameras for an entire year, from March 2014-February 2015. Another 43 officers without cameras served as a control group. The study — billed as the first of its kind — found a 53 percent reduction in use-of-force incidents among the officers wearing cameras. The officers with cameras also faced 65 percent fewer citizen complaints about their behavior.