Body Worn
Cameras 1. How long is the BWC field
test? 2. Which cameras are we
testing? 3. Who will wear the cameras?
4. How will the cameras be
evaluated? 5. Will officers be required to
advise the public they are recording? 6. Who can view the footage?
7. What happens to the BWC
file following an OfficerInvolved Incident (OII)
The field test begins the week of July 20th and will run until October. Officers will wear each of the three cameras for a period of 4 weeks (totaling 12 weeks). We are testing the Axon Body by Taser, Axon Flex by Taser and the LE3 by Vie Vu. The cameras have different features and evidence management systems. Approx. fifteen BFO officers have volunteered to wear the cameras for the field test. Eventually, all officers will wear BWC’s. The Dept. is considering BWC’s for Sergeants & Lt’s. End users from BFO, BOI and BTS will complete surveys at the end of each week or following use of the evidence management system. This feedback will be evaluated for the procurement of BWC’s. The policy requires officers to notify private citizens they are recording when entering a private residence based upon consent. Otherwise, officers are strongly encouraged to inform members of the public they’re recording. With the exception of Officer Involved Incidents, officers and supervisors may view the footage for the purposes of report writing, follow-up, courtroom testimony, or for the purposes of an administrative interview. Also, IA may view the files for administrative investigations. (Refer to policy for other authorized viewers.) The file will only be accessible by the investigators tasked with completing the OII investigation. The involved or witness officers will provide an initial statement BEFORE viewing any BWC file. Once the initial statement has been provided, the officer will then view the file with his/her 1
8. Will there be changes to the
BWC policy? 9. How long will the video
evidence be stored?
10. What happens if the officer
makes an accidental recording? 11. Are the BWC recordings
subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)? 12. Which camera system will
the Department purchase? 13. How is the video evidence
shared?
14. How will the officer view the
footage in the field? 15. How is the video footage
labeled? 16. What statistics will the
Department collect during the field test? 17. How long will the BWC
battery last?
representation and have an opportunity to provide a followup statement. We anticipate several changes to the BWC policy as a result of the feedback from the field test and input from Department members, the police union & the public. The City’s Retention policy dictates how long evidence is stored. This policy can be found in the City Policy Manual. We will work to make this retention schedule readily available to Dept. members and the public. Currently, the policy states the footage will be kept no less than one year. The officer may request a deletion through his/her chain of command to the Lieutenant. A Lieutenant or Administrative User can then delete the file. No file can be deleted if part of a criminal or administrative investigation. All recordings are subject to PRA. Like 9-1-1 calls, they are considered records of investigation. There are many legal cases pending that may eventually affect how/if files are released to the public, but R&D’s PRA staff will coordinate with the City Attorney’s Office before release of any video. The Department will collect useful information during the field test that will be helpful with procurement. Currently, we do not know which camera will best suit our needs/resources, etc. Depending upon the evidence management system, video evidence may either be shared with a link to a cloud-base storage system or downloaded onto a medium of choice (i.e. thumb drive) to be physically delivered to its intended recipient. Depending upon the camera’s design, officers may view the footage in the field on a handheld device issued by the Department, on a smartphone, or by plugging the camera into the MDC’s. Officers will annotate the video evidence with the corresponding case number. This will enable them to retrieve it later via the evidence management system. The purpose of the field test is to better understand what type of camera and evidence management system works best with our current staffing, resources and infrastructure. That said we will be comparing certain statistics during the field test: # citizen complaints & the # force complaints. The battery life depends upon the brand as well as the settings (recording in HD or low resolution). The Taser battery will last up to ~4 hours under highest quality, 9 2
18. Does either brand offer a pre
or post-activation recording option? 19. How does the field of Force
Science factor into BWC’s?
20. Will officers have a Force
Science expert testify about the camera and its advantages or limitations during courtroom proceedings? 21. Where can I find the BWC
Policy? 22. How can I reach the BWC
Project Team?
hours under medium quality & 13 hours at lowest quality recording setting. Vie Vu can store 12 hours in SD and 6 hours in HD. Taser offers a 30-second, pre-event video buffer that does NOT include audio. The pre-event will attach to the video file once the officer activates the BWC. This can be useful in capturing the pre-event or stimulus that prompted the officer to begin recording. It’s important to understand that BWC files are but one piece of evidence collected and evaluated from a given incident. The cameras do have some limitations that vary from what the officer wearing the camera may see, hear or experience. Some of those BWC limitations are: • BWC may not follow your eyes (type worn) •
Some important danger cues cannot be recorded
•
Camera speed differs from speed of life
•
Camera may see better in low light
•
Your body may block the view
•
A camera records in 2D (lack of judging distances)
Should we have the need, the prosecutor or Department will request a BWC subject matter expert (SME) appear in court to testify. This expert may be requested of the BWC vendor or may be a Department member who has received sufficient Force Science training.
The BWC Policy can be found as a PDF on both the internal SJPD Intranet as well as the public website (SJPD.org). On the public site, the policy will be available in Spanish and Vietnamese. You may contact us directly, call Research and Development or email us at bodycameras@sanjoseca.gov
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