Body-Worn Camera Policies and Procedures: Guidelines for Prosecutors
Justice & Security Strategies, Inc. (JSS) is pleased to announce the availability of a new publication – Body-Worn Camera Policies and Procedures: Guidelines for Prosecutors
Justice & Security Strategies, Inc. (JSS) is pleased to announce the availability of a new publication – Body-Worn Camera Policies and Procedures: Guidelines for Prosecutors
Body-worn cameras (BWCs) are effective at providing agencies with an additional layer of accountability and transparency. In turn, BWCs help address community concerns, mitigate liability, and often provide the primary evidence to determine whether an officer’s actions were justified in the moment. Not surprisingly, the level of BWC adoption in police departments continues to grow, both because the technology offers many benefits and also because many states now require agencies to use them.
The Body-Worn Camera (BWC) Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) Program offers several means of supporting the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s (BJA) BWC Policy and Implementation Program (BWCPIP) grantees to achieve their BWC program goals and desired outcomes. TTA is also available to agencies that are not BWCPIP grantee when the topic is relevant and resources are available to address those agencies’ needs.
Access this resource here.
SME Jason Lustig and analyst Quin Patterson have developed these tips for effectively writing a body-worn camera (BWC) policy, pulling from general writing strategies and their experiences reviewing BWC policies. These tips can be used as a guide when developing your agency's policy to keep the content substantive and concise.
Read the tips here.
Webinar: Lessons Learned from Critical Incident Investigations
The webinar explored the overall management of critical incidents and the role that BWCs have within that incident management. The main purpose of the webinar was to provide guidance on the essential aspects of managing a critical incident and share insight on how agencies work with each other throughout the aftermath of a critical incident.
Missouri’s St. Louis County Police Department (SLCPD) developed helpful applications of body-worn cameras (BWCs) by integrating cameras from multiple sources into one readily accessible platform. The integration of BWCs with automated license plate readers (ALPRs), Missouri Department of Transportation highway cameras, and other video sources allows users to access video data from multiple sources. This integrated system is managed by the SLCPD Camera Systems Unit (CSU), which maintains the physical devices and processes all of the footage.
This Corrections1 How to Buy Body-Worn Cameras (BWCs) guide can serve as a starting point for your correctional agency's body-worn camera purchasing process. Please note, this is not an exhaustive list of all issues that should be considered when purchasing BWCs. Work with any necessary internal and external stakeholders involved with your agency to determine what you want to achieve by acquiring BWCs.
The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Body-Worn Camera (BWC) Policy and Implementation Program (PIP) has awarded grants to several tribal communities across the United States from 2015 through 2022. Grantee departments have used the funds to purchase over 500 BWCs. This Infographic spotlights the experience of Gun Lake Tribe Public Safety Department, MI.
Abstract
Research Summary: This study uses interviews with 23 police officers from a small police department to conduct an in-depth examination of their perceptions of three critical but understudied areas related to body-worn camera programs: the implementation and policy-making process, supervision, and training. The focus is on understanding the factors which contribute to, or undermine, body-worn camera integration and acceptance.
Over the last few years, thousands of law enforcement agencies in the United States have adopted body-worn cameras (BWCs), and those agencies immediately had to deal with the tremendous amount of digital evidence generated by the technology. Digital evidence management (DEM) is the process by which an agency manages, stores, and transmits the data generated by BWCs and other devices (e.g., other types of cameras, cell phones). DEM is a critically important feature of a successful BWC program.