Senate Bill 1304 passed by a 107-3 vote; sent to Governor on June 26, 2015. The Bill includes provisions for body camera guidelines, Investigation of officer involved deaths – requirements, special prosecutors and new training.
The Bill will set minimum requirements of Police Department Policies related to body cameras. Some of said requirements include, but are not limited to (with some exceptions):
- Cameras must be equipped with pre-event recording, capable of recording at least the 30 seconds prior to camera activation,
- Cameras must be capable of recording for a period of 10 hours or more,
- Cameras must be turned on at all times when the officer is in uniform and is responding to calls for service or engaged in any law enforcement-related encounter or activity, that occurs while the officer is on-duty. (some exceptions apply; see Bill for details),
- Cameras must be turned off during certain circumstances (one such circumstance is when the victim of a crime requests that the camera be turned off; see Bill for details),
- The officer must provide notice of recording to any person if the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy,
- Recordings must be retained for a period of 90 days,
- Specific rules on using Recordings for disciplinary purposes.
See Senate Bill 1304.
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