2017.02.27 Public Safety Commission Packet

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RELEVANT LINKS: League of Minnesota Cities Information Memo: 7/18/2016 Use of Body-Worn Cameras Page 3 • Data classifications, access procedures, and retention policies. • Procedures for testing the recording equipment, documenting malfunction reports, and addressing malfunctions. • Circumstances under which recording is mandatory, prohibited, or is left to officer discretion. • Circumstances under which officers must tell people they are being recorded. • Guidelines for when a recording may be ended. • Procedures for the secure storage of data and the creation of backup copies. • Procedures to ensure compliance with the policy and to address violations. Body-worn cameras, LMC Model Policy. Red typeface in the League’s model policy indicates that the language is included to satisfy a requirement for guidance on that particular topic. While this language is recommended, agencies may certainly have other options for addressing mandatory elements. IV. Deciding what to record 2016 Minnesota Laws ch. 171, section 6, to be codified as Minn. Stat. § 626.8473, subd. 3(b)(4). The new legislation does not establish mandatory rules for when officers are required to record or are prohibited from recording. Agencies must instead cover these topics in their written policies, along with specifying when decisions to record are left to the discretion of officers in the field. Developing guidelines on when to record involves tradeoffs, and as of now, there is no recognized consensus as to best practices. If the agency’s goal for having BWCs is to maximize accountability, then the most logical policy choice might be to have officers turn on their cameras whenever they respond to a call for service or interact with someone in the community. On the other hand, if the agency’s goal is just to gather better proof for use in criminal cases, then it might make sense to have officers treat body cameras like any other evidence-gathering tool, and exercise their professional judgment in deciding when to record. Body-worn cameras, LMC Model Policy. Most all agree that officers should turn on their cameras when they anticipate making an arrest, using force, or finding themselves in conflict situations with members of the public. The model acknowledges these differing schools of thought and also the areas of common agreement. Option 1 under “General guidelines for recording” requires the activation of cameras during all responses to calls for service and law enforcement-related activities. Option 2 more narrowly defines the class of events subject to mandatory recording, and then relies on officer judgment to identify and record other circumstances likely to yield relevant evidence. Both options require recording in situations such as arrests, uses of force, and public contacts that involve conflict.