AB 1940: Peace officers: body-worn cameras: policies and procedures.

Existing law requires law enforcement agencies, departments, or entities to consider specified best practices regarding the downloading and storage of body-worn camera data when establishing policies and procedures for the implementation and operation of a body-worn camera system, such as designating the person responsible for downloading the recorded data from the body-worn camera, and establishing when data should be downloaded to ensure the data is entered into the system in a timely manner and the cameras are properly maintained and ready for the next use.

This bill would require a law enforcement agency, department, or entity, if it employs peace officers and uses body-worn cameras for those officers, to develop a body-worn camera policy. The bill would require the policy to allow a peace officer to review his or her body-worn camera video and audio recordings before making a report, giving an internal affairs statement, or before any criminal or civil proceeding. The bill would also require the policy to prohibit a peace officer from making a video or audio recording in a health facility or medical office when a patient may be in view of the body-worn camera or when a health care practitioner is providing care to an individual. The bill would encourage the law enforcement agency, department, or entity to include specified considerations in the policy, including the time, place, circumstances, and duration in which the body-worn camera is operational. The bill would require the policy to be available to peace officers and to the public for viewing. The bill would prohibit a peace officer from using a personal device to make an unauthorized recording of the video or audio taken from a body-worn camera. The bill would also require a law enforcement agency to have an assigned independent investigator or a supervisor accompany a peace officer involved in an incident involving a serious use of force, as defined, when reviewing the peace officers body-worn camera recording. The bill would provide that its provisions do not apply to a law enforcement agency, department, or entity that has developed a body-worn camera policy, as specified, before January 1, 2017. Because this bill would impose new duties on the conduct of local law enforcement, it would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.