BWC News

Body-Worn Cameras in the News

News articles are organized by topic area

Public Opinion

Police Body Cameras: What Do You See?- The NY Times 4/1/2016

Public frustration with policing has led to calls nationwide for more cameras worn by officers

 
The Hermosa Beach Police Department is seeking input from residents about the possible impacts of equipping its officers with body cameras
 
 
Police have concerns because residents may not want to speak once they know they’re being recorded, over the officer’s own privacy, and the fear the device won’t work
 
Policy

Beaufort County law enforcement agencies await body camera approval-The Island Packet 3/4/16

The use of body cameras for Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office deputies has been approved by the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy

Legislation mandating policies for officer-worn body cameras goes to Gov. Rick Scott's desk- Miami Herald 3/7/2016

The legislation does not require Florida’s more than 300 police agencies to use body cameras — only to have regulations and proper training protocols in place if they do use the devices.

Legislation

Valley lawmakers say police body camera bill needs more work- Yakima Herald 2/27/2016

Lawmakers representing three Central Washington counties say they would have supported a privacy law governing police body cameras if it only proposed a task force to examine the issues.

Surprise amendment stirs up body-camera debate-Crosscut.com 3/1/2016

The Mayor called on the Washington State Senate to pass bill 2362  which, among other things, would set rules for which videos police are required to release to the public, a question that can only be answered through changes to the state’s Public Records Act.

Washington Senate passes bill on police body cameras- Seattle pi 3/4/2016

The Senate on Friday passed a bill that limits broad requests for police body-camera videos while keeping key footage available to the public.

Technology

Kensington department proposes cameras for police officers, cruisers – New Hampshire Union Leader 3/5/2016

The Kensington Police Department is proposing to outfit officers and cruisers with cameras in an effort to better document encounters between police and the public

Money, Storage Primary Obstacles in Police Body Camera Implementation-Government Technologyu 3/7/2016

The initial cost of the cameras are only the tip of the iceberg for municipalities; often the steepest costs come from storage fees.

MotionDSP Releases Ikena Forensic 6.0 with Focus on GPU Acceleration & Body Camera Compatibility-EconoTimes 3/9/2016

MotionDSP, a leading provider of image processing and computer vision software, today announced the release of Ikena Forensic 6.0, their most advanced version of the company’s forensic video enhancement software. Ikena Forensic applies a sophisticated suite of algorithms to improve the quality of video evidence from any source including body worn cameras, security cameras, dash cams and mobile phones.

BWC PIP Sites in the News

Delaware State Police Begin Body Camera Pilot Program- DPR 2/26/2016

Delaware State Police say the department will start a pilot program to study body-worn video cameras.

RPD to pilot body camera program-The Rock River Times 3/4/2016

Starting Monday, the Rockford Police Department will begin a body worn camera (BWC) pilot program to test its efficiency in protecting both the safety and welfare of citizens and its officers.

New Purchasers

Hamilton considers buying 120 police body-worn cameras for township cops- The Trentonian 2/27/2016

The 169 sworn officers who serve on the Hamilton Township police force could soon be equipped with new technology — body-worn cameras with unlimited data storage — that Mayor Kelly Yaede says will benefit law-enforcement and the community at large

Palo Alto police officers to start phasing in use of body-worn cameras- San Jose Mercury News 2/26/2016

As part of a national trend to bring greater transparency and accountability to interactions between officers and residents, the Palo Alto Police Department will phase in the use of body-worn cameras this year

Wichita Police get clearance to make final body cam purchaseKSN.com 2/26/2016

WPD will now be able to purchase the remaining body cameras thanks to federal funds which now have been released.