Did You Know? Archive

January 14, 2016 — Volume 5

Police departments around the country are purchasing body worn cameras (BWC) at an accelerating pace. Prosecutors should get involved in this process as early as possible. Here is a brief overview of some of the issues prosecutors may consider. Also attached is a selection of model policies, articles and reports that provide more detailed information.

• Who is Using BWC? Reach out to your police departments.
  • Are they buying body worn cameras?
  • Are different departments using different technologies?
  • Are they developing different policies?

• BWC Policy: Get involved in the development of the BWC policy.
  • When should the officer record?
  • Are the recordings tagged with incident or arrest information and if so, how?
  • How and when does the prosecutor get access to the recordings?
  • Where and how are the recordings stored and for how long?

• Discovery and Evidence: Develop procedures within a prosecutor’s office.
  • Who will gather and review the recordings?
  • How does a recording get associated with an arrest?
  • When and how are the recordings turned over to the defense?
  • When and how can a recording be redacted?

• Funding: What additional costs will BWC impose on the prosecutor’s office? Possible costs include:
  • Personnel for viewing and redacting
  • Equipment for viewing, storing and redacting
  • Licensing fees for viewing and storing

• Stakeholder Meetings: Consider convening stakeholder meetings about BWC.
  • Are they buying body worn cameras?
  • Are different departments using different technologies?
  • Prosecutors can lead meetings with law enforcement, victim groups, courts, defense, community groups and/or elected officials to discuss BWC

• Freedom of Information Laws and Release of Recordings:
  • Assess how to respond to a freedom of information request for a recording.
  • When should recordings be released to the public?

Additional Materials

BWC Summit Flier:

• CDAA National Body Cam Technology & Policy Summit and Expo
  • California District Attorneys Association (February 22-24, 2016, Anaheim California). Click here.

Articles by Prosecutors:

• Model Body Worn Camera Policy for Police: An Aid for Prosecutors
  • California District Attorneys Association and Prosecutors’ Center for Excellence (7/14/2015). Click here.
• Body-Worn Cameras: A Report for Law Enforcement
  • The Colorado Best Practices Committee for Prosecutors (February 2015). Click here.
• Use of Body-Worn Cameras by Law Enforcement: Considerations, Issues and Concerns
  • Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys Best Practices Committee (6/29/2015). Click here.
• These Are the Police Body Camera Questions State and Local Stakeholders Must Address Quickly
  • NDAA, Route Fifty (9/20/2015). Click here.
• What Body Camera Data Should Police Collect and When?
  • NDAA, Route Fifty (10/15/2015). Click here.
• With Body-Worn Cameras, Here Comes the Hard Part
  • NDAA, Route Fifty (11/23/2015). Click here.

Technical Resources:

• Bureau of Justice Assistance BWC Tool Kit: Click here.
• For the Record: Understanding the Technology Behind Body Worn Cameras
  • Digital Communities (September 2015). Click here.

Articles by Other Groups:

• A Model Act for Regulating the Use of Wearable Body Cameras by Law Enforcement
  • ACLU (May 2015). Click here.
• Police Body Cam Footage: Just Another Public Record
  • Abrams Institute (December 2015). Click here.
• Mayor Rawlings-Blake’s Working Group on the Use and Implementation of Body-Worn Cameras (February 18, 2015)
  • City of Baltimore (2/18/2015). Click here.