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Body Worn Cameras

Steven Shea

University of San Diego

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As our agency embarks on a mission to implement new technology in the form of body

worn cameras (BWC), we must consider a number of policy implications. The first question is

how and when the camera should be activated by the line officer. The next question is whether

an officer should be required, or even allowed, to review video prior to submitting a report or

appearing in court. Finally, a BWC program can enhance evidence for prosecution and increase

the trust that the community places in law enforcement.

Policies regarding when the cameras should be activated are a complicated issue. Even

the ACLU recognizes conflicts between the desire to record everything and the need for privacy

of citizens and police officers. One extreme position is to require the cameras be activated for

the entire shift of every uniformed officer. The problem with this position is how to handle

situations of victims or witness unwilling to talk on camera. In addition, the cameras could

stifle personal conversations between officers during down times (Stanley, 2015). Having the

cameras on at all times also has a budgetary impact by dramatically increasing necessary

storage space and personnel to manage the data.

The other extreme is to allow officers full discretion to activate, and deactivate, the

cameras. The problem with this policy is that less ethical officers could manipulate the

recordings to show bad behavior by a defendant while excluding his or her own bad behavior.

Allowing full discretion on the part of the officer also decreases the trust that citizens will have

in the BWC program.

The middle ground would be to implement stringent policies dictating the use of the

cameras. Officers should be required to activate the BWC while investigating any type of

criminal conduct, traffic stop, or suspicious circumstance with very narrow exceptions to
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include while talking to victims or witnesses who object to being recorded for fear of reprisal or

during deeply personal statements such as rape victim interviews.

Utilizing a BWC system with features including pre-buffering and emergency activation

can help to prevent misuse and accidental policy violations. Pre-buffering is a feature on most

BWC systems that constantly record, but the recordings are discarded or overwritten after a

short period of time such as sixty seconds. Once an officer activates the camera, the system

will retain that short recording as part of the ongoing situation. An example of an emergency

activation includes installing a Bluetooth sensor in the officers holster such that will activate

the camera upon drawing a firearm. The holster activation switch will help to ensure the

camera is activated during the most intense incidents.

Regarding an officers ability to review video before submitting a report or testifying in

court, there are strong arguments for and against. Opponents to allowing officers to view the

video argue that the purpose of a police report is to obtain their assessment of what

happened in the moment. Opponents believe that officers will alter their perception of

events based on the video. Proponents argue that officers who view video footage will submit

more accurate reports (Bureau of Justice Assistance, n.d.). While it is possible that some less

ethical officers may alter reports based on video, it is more likely that most officers will use

video footage to enhance the detail of truthful reports. It seems unlikely that officers could, or

would, fabricate information about what can plainly be viewed. Therefore, I recommend our

agency allow officers to review footage of incidents at their discretion.

There should be one exception to the rule of allowing officers to view video footage.

For investigations involving deadly force, a more incremental approach may prove valuable in
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gaining trust in the community. An officer involved in the use of deadly force should give a

statement of events as he or she perceived them. After the initial statement, the officer should

be allowed to view the video in order to add detail to the statement. It is important to

understand that during critical incidents an officer, and really any person, can reasonably have

memory gaps or critical incident amnesia (Grossman & Siddle, 2001). With this concept in

mind, it will be natural to have some differences between the initial statement and video and

should generally not be viewed as an attempt at deceit.

Evidence provided by BWCs can prove instrumental in prosecution of cases. Juries can

view firsthand the behavior of a defendant accused of driving under the influence of

intoxicants. Video can show what did, or did not, precipitate an assault on an officer.

Defendants would have a more difficult time disavowing statements to the police or that they

were advised of their rights. There are countless examples, but in the end juries will come to

expect video evidence as BWC programs become more widespread.

Possibly the most important reason for implementing a BWC program is to retain the

trust of the community we serve. As reported by the Huffington Post, a YouGov/Economist poll

showed that eighty-eight percent of Americans support the use of BWCs by police (Edwards-

Levy, 2015). The community demands more accountability than ever and a BWC program can

help to retain the trust we have built with our community.

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REFERENCES

Bureau of Justice Assistance (n.d.) Body Worn Camera Toolkit. Retrieved from

https://www.bja.gov/bwc/Topics-Policy.html

Edwards-Levy, A. (2015, April 16) Police body cameras receive near-universal support in poll.

The Huffington Post. Retrieved from

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/16/body-cameras-poll_n_7079184.html

Grossmand, D. and Siddle, B. (2001, August) Critical incident amnesia: The physiological basis

and the implications of memory loss during extreme survival stress situations. Retrieved

from http://www.killology.com/article_amnesia.htm

Stanley, Jay (2015, March) Police body-mounted cameras: With right policies in place, a win

for all. ACLU. Retrieved https://www.aclu.org/police-body-mounted-cameras-right-

policies-place-win-all