'Cookie-cutter' approach won't cut it for body cam rules, police say


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SALT LAKE CITY — Some Utah lawmakers are calling for one law to regulate when and where law enforcement officers are allowed to use body cameras.

In a meeting before the Utah Legislature’s Administrative Rules Review Committee Tuesday, lawmakers and law enforcement agencies agreed that body cameras are the future of police work in Utah. However, how best to utilize them is still up for debate.

At times, committee members and law enforcement went back and forth over language in the Utah Department of Public Safety Policy Manual titled “Use of Portable Digital Video Recorders.”

Some terms in the policy read “should” instead of “shall” to describe situations where police activate their body cameras. Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Saratoga Springs, called for state statute to reflect language using “shall” so that the rules governing body camera use are clear.

“We just need to say, 'When you're interacting with the public, these things are activated,' and remove these workarounds,” Madsen said.

It’s clear the Utah law enforcement community believes it needs body cameras and wants to use them.

“We're advancing the idea that body cameras are good for law enforcement so that when allegations come and scrutiny comes, they can look back on the tape and see that this is the way it actually happened,” said Col. Daniel Fuhr of the Utah Highway Patrol.

Fuhr testified that a cookie-cutter approach to using body cameras is not practical. He said law enforcement agencies across the state have different needs and police situations vary.

“We all believe that police interactions should be recorded, arrests should be recorded, confrontations should be recorded,” Fuhr said, “but give us the ability to record those in an effective manner without putting way too many restrictions on its use.”

Some police agencies worry about violating privacy.

“As police officers, we see some pretty horrific things going on. We also see people in various stages of undress as we're doing enforcement activities,” said West Jordan Police Chief Douglas Diamond. “Do you want your son or daughter who has been raped, in a partially-nude scene, to be released to the public? Because once I release it, I have no control over that.”

UHP officials discussed releasing the digital recordings to the public once police and prosecutors finished their investigations in order to preserve the integrity of the investigation and avoid jeopardizing a court case.

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“There are some things that might need to be kept sealed until the court process plays out, for evidentiary reasons,” Fuhr said.

Administrators said buying quality cameras, recording hours of data, and then storing that information for years will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The UHP estimates its cost to be roughly $600,000, which would include storing any criminal cases for 10 years and other types of police enforcement activities for two to three years.

“Lawmakers across the country are considering legislation or administrative rules related to body-worn cameras,” said Ken Wallentine, vice president and senior legal adviser of Lexipol.

Lexipol is an organization that sets policy and guides law enforcement and other agencies on the best practices, including for the use of body cameras. It includes both defense attorneys and prosecutors, law professors and civil libertarians.

“Lexipol is used in approximately 2,200 police agencies and well over 100,000 officers throughout the United States,” Wallentine said. “In Utah, well over half of Utah law enforcement agencies' chiefs and sheriffs are Lexipol users.”

He advises law enforcement to embrace the use of body-worn cameras because they are the future of police work.

“The International Association of Chiefs of Police found that when there is video, the video vindicates the officers in complaints 93 percent of the time," Wallentine said. “Just make sure you’re getting a quality product, and then make sure you have the support of your local elected officials.”

Wallentine also said, at the end of the day, taxpayers will have to pay for the implementation of policy and/or rules governing body camera use.

No decision was made in Tuesday's meeting. For now, all groups are mulling over the best ways to implement the use of body cameras while still protecting all citizens.

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