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.
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.
After-action reviews (AARs) are detailed internal examinations following significant events or critical incidents (e.g., protests, civil unrest demonstrations, police shootings, police ambushes). They serve to identify the positive practices and areas of improvement within an organization’s response with the goal of improving future responses. The 2020 civil unrest events in the United States prompted several cities and police departments to conduct AARs to evaluate law enforcement’s response.
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.
Many departments use body-worn camera (BWC) footage for administrative purposes, such as investigating community member complaints and officer use of force. BWC footage can also capture and measure important aspects of officers’ interactions with community members. This one-page resource provides just a few examples of the types of questions an agency can answer with BWC footage in this regard.
The introduction of body-worn camera (BWC) technology has given law enforcement agencies an opportunity to enhance officer safety through different methods. As the technology evolves, so do the ways in which BWC footage is used for training and tactical purposes focusing on officer safety. This resource highlights ways in which agencies have used BWCs to promote officer safety via tactical awareness, training, FTO-recruit feedback, and real-time decision-making.
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.
As more police agencies have adopted BWCs on their own initiative, and at least seven states have recently moved to mandate their use, BWCs are becoming a permanent fixture for the majority of police agencies. As BWCs continue to garner widespread support across varied segments of the public and of law enforcement, the benefits of this technology are becoming firmly established and agencies are demonstrating novel ways to use BWCs to improve policing.
