Durham Police have unveiled a draft policy on the implementation of body cameras.
The Durham Police Department is inviting resident to provide comments about the draft body-worn camera policy, which was released on Thursday.
Deputy Chief Anthony Marsh says this is the result of a 90-day field trial period and feedback from a public comment period and input from officers.
Marsh says officers could be equipped with cameras in the early portion of next year.
“Our intention, at this point, is to purchase enough for every officer in the department,” he says. “That’s a little over 500. I cannot say that 500 are going to be deployed immediately. That would be unwise. It’ll be sort of a phased deployment.
“But certainly those units that have the most face time with the public would be the first units to receive one.”
Marsh says a concern that was heard from both the public and officers was the availability of body-cam video to the public. He adds it will be treated with the same guidelines as dash-cam video.
“The body-camera policy is not going to be any more restrictive than the current in-car camera policy,” he says. “The video footage is not a public record. It’s the record of a criminal investigation.”
Marsh says, while the video will not be public record, the department will retain the ability to release the video.
“If we sense that there is a compelling public interest, if it’s important, if it serves a public need that we need to put this out and share,” he says, “then we can always choose or elect to do so.”
Marsh says that officers will be asked to turn the camera on and off during their shifts.
“The officers will be directed, required, mandated, to turn it on upon being dispatched to a call or upon checking enroute to assist on a call,” he says. “We went that route for this reason; a lot of departments allow the officers to turn it on upon arrival. In many instances, you may arrive and there’s an instance unfolding in front of you – you’ve got to jump out and take immediate action.
“You run the risk of the officer forgetting to turn it on.”
Marsh says the video will be archived for 180 days. If the video is not pertinent to an ongoing court case or investigation, then the video will be purged.
The officers will also be required to wear their body camera during secondary employment including working security at events.
Marsh says the department has responded to every question that was placed by citizens during the initial public input session with 18 pages worth of answers.
Durham Police are taking input from the public and officers on the draft policy until January 14.
A final policy could be released by late January.
Marsh says the department is negotiating a contract with a vendor to provide the cameras that will eventually need the approval of the Durham City Council.
Marsh asks for patience from the public, acknowledging that there would be a learning curve for the officers.
