Body-Worn Cameras

Below is the proposed policy for the City of Sumner Police Department and Body-Worn Cameras. Please review and ask your questions/leave a comment below. We have some further common questions about body-worn cameras in the sidebar, but please focus your feedback on Sumner's proposed policy, not body-worn cameras in general or in different jurisdictions.

428.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE

This policy provides guidelines for the use of body worn camera (BWC) recording devices by members of this department while in the performance of their duties. Body worn cameras are a valuable tool for promoting transparency in law enforcement by recording citizen contact with police officers. Portable audio/video recording devices include all recording systems whether body-worn or integrated into portable equipment.

This policy does not apply to lawful surreptitious audio/video recording or interception of communications for authorized investigative purposes.

428.2 POLICY

All uniformed patrol and community service officers assigned a body worn camera are required to wear the BWC while on duty and are required to use their body worn cameras to record their law enforcement activity consistently and in accordance with this policy. The use of body worn recorders is intended to enhance the mission of the Department by accurately capturing contacts between members of the Department and the public.

428.3 MEMBER’S PRIVACY EXPECTATION

All recordings made by members acting in their official capacity shall remain the property of the Department. Members shall have no expectation of privacy or ownership interest in the content of these recordings.

428.4 TRAINING

Prior to wearing and operating a body worn camera, officers are required to successfully complete department authorized body worn camera training. This training will include:

  • Department Policy on BWC’s
  • Camera use and operation
  • Placement of the BWC
  • Procedures for downloading and tagging recorded data
  • Procedures for activation, deactivation, and reviewing video

Officers may also attend refresher training as directed by the department or as technology or policies change.

428.5 MEMBER RESPONSIBILITIES

Prior to going into service, each uniformed member will be responsible for making sure that he/she is equipped with a BWC issued by the Department, and that the recorder is in good working order. If the recorder is not in working order or malfunctions at any time, the member shall promptly report the failure to his/her supervisor, document the equipment failure in CAD, and obtain a spare device as soon as practicable. Uniformed members shall wear the BWC affixed to the chest area of their uniform where it is unobstructed by their uniform or equipment.

Any member assigned to a non-uniformed position may carry a BWC for extra-duty assignments or at any time the member believes that such a device may be useful. Unless conducting a lawful recording in an authorized undercover capacity, non-uniformed members should wear the recorder in a conspicuous manner when in use or otherwise notify persons that they are being recorded, whenever possible.

When using a BWC, the assigned member shall record his/her name, SPD identification number and the current date and time at the beginning and the end of the shift or other period of use, regardless of whether any activity was recorded. This procedure is not required when the recording device and related software captures the user’s unique identification and the date and time of each recording.

Members should document the existence of a recording in any report or other official record of the contact (CAD), including any instance where the device malfunctioned, or the member deactivated the recording consistent with this policy. Members must include the reason for deactivation.

428.6 ACTIVATION OF THE CAMERAS

This policy is not intended to describe every possible situation in which the BWC must be used, although there are many situations where its use is appropriate. Members should activate the camera any time the member believes it would be appropriate or valuable to record an incident. Once the camera is activated, the officer shall leave it on until the incident has concluded and there is little possibility that the officer will have further contact with any person involved in the event.

At a minimum the BWC shall be activated in any of the following situations:

(a) Officers shall activate the body worn camera upon exiting the vehicle to any dispatched law enforcement activity.

(b) Officers shall activate the body worn camera when involved in any manner in a police pursuit, vehicle follow, fail to yield, or active police perimeter.

(c) All enforcement and investigative contacts including stops and field interview situations

(d) Traffic stops including, but not limited to, traffic violations, stranded motorist assistance and all crime interdiction stops

(c) Self-initiated activity in which a member would normally notify the Communications Center

(d) Any other contact that becomes adversarial after the initial contact in a situation that would not otherwise require recording

At no time is a member expected to jeopardize his/her safety in order to activate their BWC before an encounter. However, the BWC should be activated in the situations described above as soon as practicable.

428.6.1 NOTIFICATION TO SUPERVISOR

Officers are encouraged to inform their supervisor if the BWC/ICV may have recorded an incident that they reasonably believe may:

  1. Result in a complaint.
  2. Be used for training.
  3. Anything else that is unusual or high profile.

428.6.2 DECISIONS NOT TO RECORD

Members should remain sensitive to the dignity of all individuals being recorded and exercise sound discretion to respect privacy by discontinuing or not recording whenever it reasonably appears to the member that such privacy interest may outweigh any legitimate law enforcement interest in recording. The decision to not record law enforcement activity shall be made by the officer wearing the camera and shall be determined by the facts and circumstances. Circumstances supporting a decision may include the following:

  1. When the officer has an articulable basis to believe that recording would be unsafe or impractical.
  2. When the officer is in a location where individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy (such as a bathroom or locker-room) and the officer is not there to effect an arrest or serve a warrant.
  3. When respect for an individual’s privacy or dignity outweighs the need to record an event. Such circumstances may include (without limitation) natural death scenes, death notifications, child or sexual assault victim interviews, and cultural or religious objections to being recorded.
  4. Sensitive communications such as matters of law enforcement intelligence or where the recording could hinder a criminal investigation or reveal the identity of a confidential informant.
  5. If a citizen objects to being recorded, the officer may elect to record despite the objection. Since conversations with police officers are not considered private under Washington law there is no requirement that an officer turn off the camera for a citizen who objects to having the interaction recorded but may use their discretion to do so.

Officers shall document by written report or CAD any decision to not activate the camera or to turn off the body camera prior to the conclusion of the law enforcement activity, and their reasons for doing so.

428.6.3 NOTIFICATION OF RECORDING

Under Washington law, conversations between uniformed police officers and citizens are not recognized as private conversations and generally do not require advisement or consent. However, it is the policy of this department to advise all contacts with civilians where the camera is activated to notify them, as soon as practicable, that the contact is being recorded. When ever possible the notification will be on the recording and repeated to new contacts.

Officers will make an effort to communicate to non-English speakers, those with limited English proficiency, deaf persons, or persons hard of hearing that they are being recorded by pointing to the BWC.

In accordance with RCW 9.73.090(1)(b), officers shall again notify persons placed under arrest they are being recorded and verbally give Miranda warnings on the recording.

428.6.4 ACTIVATION AMNESTY

No officer will be subject to discipline for failing to activate a camera for any reason for the first month or 14 shifts, whichever occurs later, after he or she is assigned to wear a BWC. Evidence of a failure to activate a BWC during the amnesty period shall not be used or considered for performance evaluations or discipline after this amnesty period. This amnesty period will apply again in the event an officer who previously was assigned to an assignment without a BWC, is reassigned to an assignment with a BWC or after a period of six months or more in an assignment without a BWC. Officers assigned to assignments without a BWC but who work extra shifts on assignments with a BWC will not be subject to discipline for an unintentional failure to activate the BWC.

428.6.5 DEACTIVATION CRITERIA

Once activated, the BWC should remain on continuously until the member’s direct participation in the incident is complete or the situation no longer fits the criteria for activation. Recording may be stopped during significant periods of inactivity such as report writing or other breaks from direct participation in the incident. Temporary Deactivation of Audio Only. Audio recording contemporaneous with a BWC may be temporarily disabled for conversations with other officers or persons not involved with the call.

428.6.6 SURREPTITIOUS RECORDING

Washington law prohibits any individual from surreptitiously recording any conversation, except as provided in RCW 9.73.040, RCW 9.73.090 and RCW 9.73.210.

Members shall not surreptitiously record another department member unless lawfully authorized by the Chief of Police or authorized designee.

428.6.7 INADVERTANT OR ACCIDENTAL RECORDINGS

An officer may inadvertently/accidently record themselves or others. These inadvertent/accidental recordings typically do not meet the statutory definition of a public record (as described in RCW 40.14.010) and as such may be deleted. If an officer believes that they accidently or inadvertently made a recording, they shall notify their supervisor, via email, noting the date and time of the recording and request the recording be reviewed for deletion.

428.7 PROHIBITED USE OF BWC

Except as specifically authorized by the Chief of Police, BWC shall not be used to record:

  1. Members are prohibited from using department-issued BWC and recording media for personal use or non-work related business.
  2. Communications with other police personnel or city employees not actively engaged in a call for service.
  3. When on a break or conducting personal business.
  4. While in the interior of medical, mental health, or counseling/treatment facilities, unless investigating a crime in progress. The drawing of blood or interview of a suspect in a medical facility would be permitted.
  5. While within the police station, except when taking a report in the lobby or when processing a DUI in the booking area, or making contact with a subject in a holding cell.

Members are prohibited from using personally owned recording devices while on-duty without the express consent of a patrol Sergeant. Any member who uses a personally owned recorder for department-related activities shall comply with the provisions of this policy, including retention and release requirements.

Recordings shall not be used by any member for the purpose of embarrassment, intimidation or ridicule.

428.8 RETENTION AND RELEASE OF RECORDINGS

Any time a member records any portion of a contact that the member reasonably believes constitutes evidence in a criminal case, the member shall record the related case number and transfer the file in accordance with current procedure for storing digital files and document the existence of the recording in the related case report or CAD event. File transfers should occur at the end of the member’s shift, as soon practical following a serious incident or any time the storage capacity is nearing its limit.

Any time a member reasonably believes a recorded contact may be beneficial in a non-criminal matter (e.g., a hostile contact), the member should promptly notify a supervisor of the existence of the recording.

Recordings should be stored, retained, released, and deleted in accordance with state records retention and public records disclosure laws but in no event held less than 60 days (other than inadvertent).

Members of the public who wish to view video shall be required to submit a public disclosure request, or in the event of litigation, seek the video in discovery. SPD will only release video to the public in accordance with Washington’s Public Records Act or pursuant to lawful process.

All recordings requested by the public shall first be reviewed prior to public release and only after appropriate and legally permitted redactions are made.

Recordings shall be released and available to the City of Sumner legal staff and the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office for the purposes of reviewing or prosecuting criminal cases or traffic or civil infractions. Recordings shall also be released and available to the City to review or prosecute code enforcement matters or licensing violations, and to defend the City or its employees in litigation. Recordings may also be released and available to other criminal justice agencies as that term is defined in RCW 10.97.020.

It is the department’s intent to release video related to an officer involved shooting or major force event within 48 hours after receiving a PRR. The Chief reserves the right to delay the release depending on investigative need or will release at his/her discretion for the best interests of the parties involved or the City.

428.9 REVIEW AND ACCESS TO RECORDINGS

When preparing written reports, members may review own their recordings as a resource and may view their own recordings at any time. However, members shall not retain personal copies of recordings. Members should not use the fact that a recording was made as a reason to write a less detailed report.

Supervisors and Command Staff, or their designees, are authorized to conduct a narrowly tailored review of relevant recordings of their immediate chain of command, when they are investigating a complaint of alleged misconduct; when reviewing a report of meritorious conduct; as a part of a follow-up to corrective action, counseling, or during the period of a performance improvement or action plan; for the purposes of training; for the purposes of determining whether to approve the filing of charges; for the purposes of reviewing applications of force, pursuits, or other instances in which reporting is mandatory. Video may also be reviewed for the purposes of conducting a deadly force review, a traffic accident, for the purposes of defending or prosecuting civil or criminal litigation.

Supervisors and command staff shall not randomly search through BWC recordings to discover reasons to impose discipline against officers. Likewise, if the BWC is equipped with GPS location capabilities, Officers GPS data will not be randomly reviewed, but may be accessed and used in response to the investigation or a particular complaint, officer safety, or public safety purposes.

The Department further acknowledges that video recordings provide a limited perspective (with limited vantage points) of an overall incident. Consequently, the Department will never rely solely upon the review of video recordings as the sole basis for discipline against an officer. Instead, the Department shall review and consider other available evidence (such as witness statements, officer interviews, forensic analysis, documentary evidence, etc.) prior to making a finding or imposing discipline against an officer.

Recorded video may also be reviewed:

(a) Upon approval by a supervisor, by any member of the Department who is participating in an official investigation, such as a personnel complaint, administrative investigation or criminal investigation and the video is specific to that investigation.

(b) By legal counsel and/or union representation representing an officer in a critical incident prior to providing a statement pursuant to an administrative inquiry. However, if an officer is involved in a shooting, or other serious use of force, an officer may be required to provide a public safety statement prior to having the opportunity to review the BWC recording. Both the involved officers and witness officers will be allowed to review relevant BWC footage prior to any administrative interview or answering questions.

(c) By an employee’s legal representative and/or bargaining unit representative who is involved in representing the employee in an administrative investigation or a criminal investigation.

(d) By the City’s legal representative who is involved in representing the City in an official matter, such as an administrative investigation, a lawsuit, or a criminal investigation.

(e) In compliance with a public records request or other legal process.

(f) By IT staff for the purposes of assessing proper functioning of BWC and/or file storage software.

(g) Specific acts of officers that would reflect positively on the department may be of interest to the public and may be made available to the media upon the approval of the Chief of Police.

Below is the proposed policy for the City of Sumner Police Department and Body-Worn Cameras. Please review and ask your questions/leave a comment below. We have some further common questions about body-worn cameras in the sidebar, but please focus your feedback on Sumner's proposed policy, not body-worn cameras in general or in different jurisdictions.

428.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE

This policy provides guidelines for the use of body worn camera (BWC) recording devices by members of this department while in the performance of their duties. Body worn cameras are a valuable tool for promoting transparency in law enforcement by recording citizen contact with police officers. Portable audio/video recording devices include all recording systems whether body-worn or integrated into portable equipment.

This policy does not apply to lawful surreptitious audio/video recording or interception of communications for authorized investigative purposes.

428.2 POLICY

All uniformed patrol and community service officers assigned a body worn camera are required to wear the BWC while on duty and are required to use their body worn cameras to record their law enforcement activity consistently and in accordance with this policy. The use of body worn recorders is intended to enhance the mission of the Department by accurately capturing contacts between members of the Department and the public.

428.3 MEMBER’S PRIVACY EXPECTATION

All recordings made by members acting in their official capacity shall remain the property of the Department. Members shall have no expectation of privacy or ownership interest in the content of these recordings.

428.4 TRAINING

Prior to wearing and operating a body worn camera, officers are required to successfully complete department authorized body worn camera training. This training will include:

  • Department Policy on BWC’s
  • Camera use and operation
  • Placement of the BWC
  • Procedures for downloading and tagging recorded data
  • Procedures for activation, deactivation, and reviewing video

Officers may also attend refresher training as directed by the department or as technology or policies change.

428.5 MEMBER RESPONSIBILITIES

Prior to going into service, each uniformed member will be responsible for making sure that he/she is equipped with a BWC issued by the Department, and that the recorder is in good working order. If the recorder is not in working order or malfunctions at any time, the member shall promptly report the failure to his/her supervisor, document the equipment failure in CAD, and obtain a spare device as soon as practicable. Uniformed members shall wear the BWC affixed to the chest area of their uniform where it is unobstructed by their uniform or equipment.

Any member assigned to a non-uniformed position may carry a BWC for extra-duty assignments or at any time the member believes that such a device may be useful. Unless conducting a lawful recording in an authorized undercover capacity, non-uniformed members should wear the recorder in a conspicuous manner when in use or otherwise notify persons that they are being recorded, whenever possible.

When using a BWC, the assigned member shall record his/her name, SPD identification number and the current date and time at the beginning and the end of the shift or other period of use, regardless of whether any activity was recorded. This procedure is not required when the recording device and related software captures the user’s unique identification and the date and time of each recording.

Members should document the existence of a recording in any report or other official record of the contact (CAD), including any instance where the device malfunctioned, or the member deactivated the recording consistent with this policy. Members must include the reason for deactivation.

428.6 ACTIVATION OF THE CAMERAS

This policy is not intended to describe every possible situation in which the BWC must be used, although there are many situations where its use is appropriate. Members should activate the camera any time the member believes it would be appropriate or valuable to record an incident. Once the camera is activated, the officer shall leave it on until the incident has concluded and there is little possibility that the officer will have further contact with any person involved in the event.

At a minimum the BWC shall be activated in any of the following situations:

(a) Officers shall activate the body worn camera upon exiting the vehicle to any dispatched law enforcement activity.

(b) Officers shall activate the body worn camera when involved in any manner in a police pursuit, vehicle follow, fail to yield, or active police perimeter.

(c) All enforcement and investigative contacts including stops and field interview situations

(d) Traffic stops including, but not limited to, traffic violations, stranded motorist assistance and all crime interdiction stops

(c) Self-initiated activity in which a member would normally notify the Communications Center

(d) Any other contact that becomes adversarial after the initial contact in a situation that would not otherwise require recording

At no time is a member expected to jeopardize his/her safety in order to activate their BWC before an encounter. However, the BWC should be activated in the situations described above as soon as practicable.

428.6.1 NOTIFICATION TO SUPERVISOR

Officers are encouraged to inform their supervisor if the BWC/ICV may have recorded an incident that they reasonably believe may:

  1. Result in a complaint.
  2. Be used for training.
  3. Anything else that is unusual or high profile.

428.6.2 DECISIONS NOT TO RECORD

Members should remain sensitive to the dignity of all individuals being recorded and exercise sound discretion to respect privacy by discontinuing or not recording whenever it reasonably appears to the member that such privacy interest may outweigh any legitimate law enforcement interest in recording. The decision to not record law enforcement activity shall be made by the officer wearing the camera and shall be determined by the facts and circumstances. Circumstances supporting a decision may include the following:

  1. When the officer has an articulable basis to believe that recording would be unsafe or impractical.
  2. When the officer is in a location where individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy (such as a bathroom or locker-room) and the officer is not there to effect an arrest or serve a warrant.
  3. When respect for an individual’s privacy or dignity outweighs the need to record an event. Such circumstances may include (without limitation) natural death scenes, death notifications, child or sexual assault victim interviews, and cultural or religious objections to being recorded.
  4. Sensitive communications such as matters of law enforcement intelligence or where the recording could hinder a criminal investigation or reveal the identity of a confidential informant.
  5. If a citizen objects to being recorded, the officer may elect to record despite the objection. Since conversations with police officers are not considered private under Washington law there is no requirement that an officer turn off the camera for a citizen who objects to having the interaction recorded but may use their discretion to do so.

Officers shall document by written report or CAD any decision to not activate the camera or to turn off the body camera prior to the conclusion of the law enforcement activity, and their reasons for doing so.

428.6.3 NOTIFICATION OF RECORDING

Under Washington law, conversations between uniformed police officers and citizens are not recognized as private conversations and generally do not require advisement or consent. However, it is the policy of this department to advise all contacts with civilians where the camera is activated to notify them, as soon as practicable, that the contact is being recorded. When ever possible the notification will be on the recording and repeated to new contacts.

Officers will make an effort to communicate to non-English speakers, those with limited English proficiency, deaf persons, or persons hard of hearing that they are being recorded by pointing to the BWC.

In accordance with RCW 9.73.090(1)(b), officers shall again notify persons placed under arrest they are being recorded and verbally give Miranda warnings on the recording.

428.6.4 ACTIVATION AMNESTY

No officer will be subject to discipline for failing to activate a camera for any reason for the first month or 14 shifts, whichever occurs later, after he or she is assigned to wear a BWC. Evidence of a failure to activate a BWC during the amnesty period shall not be used or considered for performance evaluations or discipline after this amnesty period. This amnesty period will apply again in the event an officer who previously was assigned to an assignment without a BWC, is reassigned to an assignment with a BWC or after a period of six months or more in an assignment without a BWC. Officers assigned to assignments without a BWC but who work extra shifts on assignments with a BWC will not be subject to discipline for an unintentional failure to activate the BWC.

428.6.5 DEACTIVATION CRITERIA

Once activated, the BWC should remain on continuously until the member’s direct participation in the incident is complete or the situation no longer fits the criteria for activation. Recording may be stopped during significant periods of inactivity such as report writing or other breaks from direct participation in the incident. Temporary Deactivation of Audio Only. Audio recording contemporaneous with a BWC may be temporarily disabled for conversations with other officers or persons not involved with the call.

428.6.6 SURREPTITIOUS RECORDING

Washington law prohibits any individual from surreptitiously recording any conversation, except as provided in RCW 9.73.040, RCW 9.73.090 and RCW 9.73.210.

Members shall not surreptitiously record another department member unless lawfully authorized by the Chief of Police or authorized designee.

428.6.7 INADVERTANT OR ACCIDENTAL RECORDINGS

An officer may inadvertently/accidently record themselves or others. These inadvertent/accidental recordings typically do not meet the statutory definition of a public record (as described in RCW 40.14.010) and as such may be deleted. If an officer believes that they accidently or inadvertently made a recording, they shall notify their supervisor, via email, noting the date and time of the recording and request the recording be reviewed for deletion.

428.7 PROHIBITED USE OF BWC

Except as specifically authorized by the Chief of Police, BWC shall not be used to record:

  1. Members are prohibited from using department-issued BWC and recording media for personal use or non-work related business.
  2. Communications with other police personnel or city employees not actively engaged in a call for service.
  3. When on a break or conducting personal business.
  4. While in the interior of medical, mental health, or counseling/treatment facilities, unless investigating a crime in progress. The drawing of blood or interview of a suspect in a medical facility would be permitted.
  5. While within the police station, except when taking a report in the lobby or when processing a DUI in the booking area, or making contact with a subject in a holding cell.

Members are prohibited from using personally owned recording devices while on-duty without the express consent of a patrol Sergeant. Any member who uses a personally owned recorder for department-related activities shall comply with the provisions of this policy, including retention and release requirements.

Recordings shall not be used by any member for the purpose of embarrassment, intimidation or ridicule.

428.8 RETENTION AND RELEASE OF RECORDINGS

Any time a member records any portion of a contact that the member reasonably believes constitutes evidence in a criminal case, the member shall record the related case number and transfer the file in accordance with current procedure for storing digital files and document the existence of the recording in the related case report or CAD event. File transfers should occur at the end of the member’s shift, as soon practical following a serious incident or any time the storage capacity is nearing its limit.

Any time a member reasonably believes a recorded contact may be beneficial in a non-criminal matter (e.g., a hostile contact), the member should promptly notify a supervisor of the existence of the recording.

Recordings should be stored, retained, released, and deleted in accordance with state records retention and public records disclosure laws but in no event held less than 60 days (other than inadvertent).

Members of the public who wish to view video shall be required to submit a public disclosure request, or in the event of litigation, seek the video in discovery. SPD will only release video to the public in accordance with Washington’s Public Records Act or pursuant to lawful process.

All recordings requested by the public shall first be reviewed prior to public release and only after appropriate and legally permitted redactions are made.

Recordings shall be released and available to the City of Sumner legal staff and the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office for the purposes of reviewing or prosecuting criminal cases or traffic or civil infractions. Recordings shall also be released and available to the City to review or prosecute code enforcement matters or licensing violations, and to defend the City or its employees in litigation. Recordings may also be released and available to other criminal justice agencies as that term is defined in RCW 10.97.020.

It is the department’s intent to release video related to an officer involved shooting or major force event within 48 hours after receiving a PRR. The Chief reserves the right to delay the release depending on investigative need or will release at his/her discretion for the best interests of the parties involved or the City.

428.9 REVIEW AND ACCESS TO RECORDINGS

When preparing written reports, members may review own their recordings as a resource and may view their own recordings at any time. However, members shall not retain personal copies of recordings. Members should not use the fact that a recording was made as a reason to write a less detailed report.

Supervisors and Command Staff, or their designees, are authorized to conduct a narrowly tailored review of relevant recordings of their immediate chain of command, when they are investigating a complaint of alleged misconduct; when reviewing a report of meritorious conduct; as a part of a follow-up to corrective action, counseling, or during the period of a performance improvement or action plan; for the purposes of training; for the purposes of determining whether to approve the filing of charges; for the purposes of reviewing applications of force, pursuits, or other instances in which reporting is mandatory. Video may also be reviewed for the purposes of conducting a deadly force review, a traffic accident, for the purposes of defending or prosecuting civil or criminal litigation.

Supervisors and command staff shall not randomly search through BWC recordings to discover reasons to impose discipline against officers. Likewise, if the BWC is equipped with GPS location capabilities, Officers GPS data will not be randomly reviewed, but may be accessed and used in response to the investigation or a particular complaint, officer safety, or public safety purposes.

The Department further acknowledges that video recordings provide a limited perspective (with limited vantage points) of an overall incident. Consequently, the Department will never rely solely upon the review of video recordings as the sole basis for discipline against an officer. Instead, the Department shall review and consider other available evidence (such as witness statements, officer interviews, forensic analysis, documentary evidence, etc.) prior to making a finding or imposing discipline against an officer.

Recorded video may also be reviewed:

(a) Upon approval by a supervisor, by any member of the Department who is participating in an official investigation, such as a personnel complaint, administrative investigation or criminal investigation and the video is specific to that investigation.

(b) By legal counsel and/or union representation representing an officer in a critical incident prior to providing a statement pursuant to an administrative inquiry. However, if an officer is involved in a shooting, or other serious use of force, an officer may be required to provide a public safety statement prior to having the opportunity to review the BWC recording. Both the involved officers and witness officers will be allowed to review relevant BWC footage prior to any administrative interview or answering questions.

(c) By an employee’s legal representative and/or bargaining unit representative who is involved in representing the employee in an administrative investigation or a criminal investigation.

(d) By the City’s legal representative who is involved in representing the City in an official matter, such as an administrative investigation, a lawsuit, or a criminal investigation.

(e) In compliance with a public records request or other legal process.

(f) By IT staff for the purposes of assessing proper functioning of BWC and/or file storage software.

(g) Specific acts of officers that would reflect positively on the department may be of interest to the public and may be made available to the media upon the approval of the Chief of Police.

What questions do you have about Sumner's draft body-worn camera policy?

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Page published: 27 Apr 2021, 05:35 PM