Police Chief: Planning to use body worn video? Here are 39 Questions to answer.
Repost from LinkedIn on November 26, 2014.
Body worn video (BWV) is all the rage with law enforcement. While the jury is still out on its true effectiveness to improve relations between law enforcement and citizens, initial evidence does point to positive results for both its wearer and the public.
Whichever side you’re on with respect to use of BWV, here are 36 questions I’ve compiled that any agency Chief or Sheriff should be able to answer for officers, the mayor/city council, county council, and the citizens they serve.
- What kind of body work camera should I use? (Chest/Head)
- What resolution quality do I need?
- How much do they cost?
- How will I pay for them?
- Who do I give it to?
- Who don’t I give it to?
- What training do I have to give to users?
- How do I get police union support to use them?
- How do I get citizen support to use them?
- How do I get political support to use them?
- When do I turn it on?
- When do I turn it off?
- Do Ii have to tell people it’s on (or off)?
- How do I handle witnesses who won’t step forward if they know they’re being recorded? (new 12/5 from LEIM)
- Will officers be allowed to have casual off-the record conversations? (new 12/5 from LEIM)
- Are there times I have to leave it off?
- Are there times I have to take it off my body?
- Do I have to have it on when I’m not on a call?
- How long should I store the video?
- Where do I store the video?
- Can I store it with a 3rd party provider?
- What will it cost me to store the video with a 3rd party provider?
- How do I know my video is secure with a 3rd party provider?
- What do I do if the 3rd party provider loses my video?
- How do I access the stored video?
- Who else can look at the video? (Intel)
- Who can I share the video with? (LE reasons)?
- How do I share the video with other LE?
- Do I have to get permission from others in the video to share it?
- How do I handle videos of the inside of people’s houses? (Non-criminal)
- If the subject asks for a copy, must I give it to them?
- Do I have to give it up in a foe request?
- Do I charge citizens for copies of the video?
- Are the cameras reliable?
- What if the camera fails to capture a critical incident? Will others see this as a cover-up? (new 12/5 from LEIM)
- Do the batteries last for a whole shift?
- How do I recharge the battery?
- What if it not operable, should I not take a call?
- How do I maintain the cameras?
If I missed any, add them to comments below…
Thanks…r/Chuck