Widespread police use of body-worn cameras (BWCs) worldwide means that many use-of-force incidents are likely to be captured on camera. Despite much exploration of the effects of BWCs on policing, both policy makers and researchers debate whether officers involved in such incidents should be permitted to review their BWC footage before providing their account of the incident. We sought to address this question through officers' first-hand perspectives. Specifically, 112 police recruits engaged in a realistic lethal force training scenario, reviewed their BWC footage, and were then asked about their experiences watching that footage and their perspective on BWC review. Qualitative analysis revealed strong support for the utility of BWC footage. The participants perceived the footage both as a veridical record of what happened and superior to their own memory. While some participants noted discrepancies between the footage and their memory, its benefits were largely articulated as adding to or refining memory. Whether officers should view footage to aid reporting likely depends on the objective. If the goal is to document a comprehensive account of the events, then the recruits’ perspectives suggest that reviewing the footage will likely provide a more detailed account than memory alone. However, if the intention is to assess the officers’ recollection and cognitive processing of the incident, then the findings suggest that watching BWC footage could lead to contamination or modification of accounts to align with the video. The recruits’ perspectives provide insight into why various memory effects may occur, and considerations for policy.