Web Link
Clearly when and how to use these cameras is not a simple issue and the report is well worth reading if you are interested in a fact based discussion.
Here are two interesting excerpts:
"Legitimacy in policing is built on trust. And the notion of video-recording every interac- tion in a very tense situation would simply not be a practical operational way of deliv- ering policing. In fact, it would exacerbate all sorts of problems. In the United Kingdom, we're also subject to human rights legislation, laws on right to privacy, right to family life, and I'm sure you have similar statutes. It's far more complicated than a blanket policy of 'every interaction is filmed.' I think that's far too simplistic. We have to give our officers some discretion. We cannot have a policy that limits discretion of officers to a point where using these devices has a negative effect on community-police relations."
– Sir Hugh Orde, President, Association of Chief Police Officers (UK)
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"In Daytona Beach, Chief Chitwood requested that the officers with a history of complaints be among the first to be outfitted with body-worn cameras . Although he found that usually the videos demonstrated that "the majority of the officers are hardworking, good police," he has also seen how body-worn cameras can help an agency address discipline problems . Chitwood said:
We had an officer who had several questionable incidents in the past, so we outfitted him with a camera . Right in the middle of an encounter with a subject, the camera goes blank, and then it comes back on when the incident is over . He said that the camera malfunctioned, so we gave him another one . A week later he goes to arrest a woman, and again, the camera goes blank just before the encounter . He claimed again that the camera had malfunctioned . So we conducted a forensic review of the camera, which determined that the officer had intentionally hit the power button right before the camera shut off . Our policy says that if you turn it off, you're done . He resigned the next day ."
The second article is:
Web Link
Here is the current MPPD policy on BWC's:
Web Link
This document is strangely copy protected and you cannot cut and paste from it.
Frankly, I think the generic MPPD policy ( written by Lexipol) leaves a lot to be desired. For example, it mandates that all citizen contact recordings be saved for 2 1/2 years. And it has no obvious exception for interrogation of confidential informants.
What are your thoughts?
