EL SEGUNDO POLICE DEPARTMENT- Policy 142 BODY WORN CAMERA DEVICES 142.05 INTRODUCTION. The Department has authorized only the Vievu Body Worn Camera device for use by all Officers and enforcement personnel. Through this program, it is the intent of the Department to enhance public relations, criminal prosecutions and internal training while at the same time limit civil liability and assist in resolving citizen complaints. 142.07 OBJECTIVES. Body worn camera video provides additional information regarding an investigation or enforcement contact. Body worn video however provides a limited perspective of the encounter and must be considered with all other available evidence including witness statements, officer interviews, and forensic evidence when evaluating the appropriateness of an officer’s actions. The Department has adopted the use of BWC to: A. B. C. D. Accurately document events in arrests and critical incidents. Collect evidence for use in criminal investigations and prosecutions. Assist Officers with completing reports and providing testimony in court. Record critical incident circumstances for investigations, internal reviews, and officer training. 142.10 TRAINING REQUIRED. Personnel assigned a BWC must complete Department approved training covering the proper deployment, use and maintenance of the devices before deploying in the field. 142.12 PROCEDURES FOR USE. Unless justifying circumstances exists, personnel shall record all citizen contacts while conducting law enforcement duties. A. B. C. D. E. F. 142.15 In the event an officer is unable to activate his BWC prior to initiating any of these activities, the BWC shall be activated as soon as it is practical and safe to do so. The BWC shall continue recording until the contact has concluded. If the enforcement or investigative activity resumes, the officer shall re-activate the BWC and continue recording. Officer Safety and the safety of the public shall be the primary considerations when contacting citizens, not the ability to record an event. Officers shall not provide narration unless the officer is providing context related to a crime being captured by a BWC recording. Officers shall not duplicate, edit, alter, erase, or otherwise modify any BWC recording. Officers shall wear the BWC above the midline of the torso, in a position designed to produce an effective recording. Officers shall immediately report any malfunction, or loss of the BWC to the on-duty supervisor. EXCEPTIONS FOR ACTIVATION. Officers are not required to record encounters under the following circumstances: A. A witness, informant or victim refuses to provide a statement if recorded and the encounter is non-confrontational. B. C. D. While in a health care facility for the sole purpose of waiting for an arrestee to be medically cleared. However, in the event of a struggle or physical confrontation with a person in police custody, the BWC should be activated. In locations where individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as a residence, restroom, or locker room they may decline to be recorded unless the incident involves an arrest or search of the locale or individual. The request to stop recording an event should be recorded. If in the officer’s judgment, the BWC would interfere with the ability to conduct a thorough investigation, or may be inappropriate because of the victim’s physical condition, emotional state, age or other sensitive circumstances (rape, or other form of sexual assault). 142.20 NOTICE TO MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC. When appropriate, Officers may inform civilians they are being recorded as part of the contact. Officers are not required to obtain consent prior to activating their BWC when the officer is lawfully in the location where the recording takes place. In locations where individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy such as a residence, they may decline to be recorded unless the recording is of an arrest, search, or other enforcement action. 142.22 DEPARTMENT APPROVED EQUIPMENT. Personnel shall not use any other nonDepartment issued video or audio equipment to record enforcement or investigative activities involving members of the public. Personnel may however, use digital recording devices other than the assigned BWC device to record interviews when conducting Use of Force interviews or Administrative Investigations. 142.50 STORAGE AND DOCUMENTATION. Officers shall securely upload the BWC recordings daily, unless circumstances make it impractical. Use of Force recordings shall be uploaded promptly and in all cases prior to the Officer’s end of shift. All recorded victim, witness and suspect statements, as well as any other evidence recorded shall be identified as such in the corresponding report for future reference. Submitted reports are still required to capture the totality of the event. 142.60 REVIEW OF VIDEO RECORDINGS. To help ensure accuracy in police reports, employees are encouraged to review recordings prior to preparing reports or providing courtroom testimony. Video may also be reviewed in the following situations: A. B. C. With supervisory approval, an employee may review another employee’s recording provided both employees were involved in the same incident in question. In cases involving a significant Use of Force such as an officer involved shooting, the officer and/or their attorney will be afforded an opportunity to review the video prior to the interview or after the interview. In cases where the officer elects to view the video immediately after their interview, the officer shall be given an opportunity to provide a supplemental statement to investigators. Recordings from BWC devices may be shown for training purposes upon disposition of the criminal case. Such use of video shall first be approved by the Bureau Commander and only after notice has been provided to the involved Officers in the incident/video. NOTE: Depending on the circumstances, a supervisor may restrict the officers’ ability to access and view the video. These situations may include, but are not limited to OIS investigations, Use of Force applications, and vehicle pursuits. 143.00 SUPERVISOR RESPONSIBILITES. A. Supervisors who are informed or otherwise become aware of malfunctioning equipment shall ensure that a repair order is completed by the employee. B. Supervisors shall conduct periodic reviews of officers’ videos to assess officer performance, assure the equipment is properly functioning, and to determine officers are using the equipment as described by policy. C. The supervisor, upon arrival at the scene of an OIS or other significant use of force shall take possession of any involved officers’ BWC device and complete the upload process and book the device into evidence. D. When deemed necessary to maintain viewing control, supervisors shall re-assign a video recording to “Secure Viewing” to prohibit officers from viewing the video once the video has been uploaded from the BWC device to the station computer server. A video may be removed from “Secure Viewing” status at the direction of the Bureau or Division Commander. 148.70. PUBLIC RELEASE OF VIDEO A. The release of BWC video requested through a public records request will be subject to the same statutory exemptions from disclosure as any other departmental records.