Senate Looks To Policies On Police Body Cameras Like Those In Pensacola

April 8, 2015

A Senate panel on Tuesday approved a bill that would require law-enforcement agencies to establish policies for the proper use of body cameras if the agencies allow officers to wear the devices. The City of Pensacola is one of just 13 Florida police departments currently using the cameras, with nine other departments testing their use.
The Senate Criminal Justice Committee unanimously passed the measure (SPB 7080), which would require law-enforcement agencies to establish policies and procedures addressing the proper use, maintenance and storage of body cameras and the data they record.

That includes training officers who use the cameras and performing “a periodic review of actual agency body-camera practices to ensure conformity with the agency’s policies and procedures.”

Currently, Florida law does not require police agencies to have policies governing the use of such technology.

“We’re saying to law enforcement: ‘OK, if you want to use ‘em, this is what they have to be,’ ” committee chairman Greg Evers, R-Baker, said.

But senators also emphasized their concern that the measure should not violate part of state law that makes it a third-degree felony to “intercept an oral communication.” Under the bill, that provision would not apply to police wearing body cameras.

“If I stop to get a cup of coffee as a law-enforcement officer and I capture other conversations that are occurring behind me or in front of me … we’re essentially listening in on conversations that are occurring in public,” said Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg. “And there is no consent provided for listening in on those conversations.”

But Evers said the recordings would only be used when officers are performing their duties.

“It’s only for law-enforcement activities,” he said after the meeting. “If by chance they happened to overhear another conversation … it’s erased, there’s no record of it, and it didn’t happen. Because there is a privacy concern that’s located in the bill and located here in this chamber that will see that that’s the way it is.”

Evers predicted the Senate would back the committee bill, which does not have a House companion.

Supporters of the measure include the Florida Sheriffs Association, the Florida Police Benevolent Association, the Florida Public Defender Association and the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.
There could be additional funding for such programs. In December, President Obama proposed a three-year, $263 million legislative package to increase the use of body-worn cameras and expand such training for law-enforcement agencies. Part of the federal initiative would provide a 50 percent match to states and local entities that purchase body-worn cameras and requisite storage.

by Margie Menzel, The News Service of Florida

Comments

5 Responses to “Senate Looks To Policies On Police Body Cameras Like Those In Pensacola”

  1. David Huie Green on April 8th, 2015 8:50 pm

    throw out the bad eggs

  2. M in Bratt on April 8th, 2015 10:42 am

    Quacky; I agree with you 100%. But even if it’s just a few bad eggs in law enforcement, shouldn’t these machines have the ability to catch them and weed them out?

  3. Quacky on April 8th, 2015 10:05 am

    M in Brat–as long as there is any kind of device out there being used for good, someone will always use it for bad. We just have to it at face value that all who wear a badge is not bad. We can’t allow a few bad eggs to over shadow those who are doing good. I for one am glad that they are there and if they over hear a conversation of mine, than it is my fault and yes I should get caught.

  4. M in Bratt on April 8th, 2015 9:05 am

    As long as these devices have an on/off switch, and a way for an officer to download and delete data, their use will always be in question. We will keep the footage we like, and delete anything that could make us look bad will be the mind set of rogue officers everywhere.

  5. DavidHuieGreen on April 8th, 2015 8:30 am

    REGARDING:
    “If I stop to get a cup of coffee as a law-enforcement officer and I capture other conversations that are occurring behind me or in front of me … we’re essentially listening in on conversations that are occurring in public,” said Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg. “And there is no consent provided for listening in on those conversations.”

    People discussing commission of crimes near uniformed law enforcement officers SHOULD be caught. (Admittedly, microphones can hear better than people, but it’s unreasonable to assume deafness.)

    Recording reduces the danger of misrepresentation on the part of all parties.

    David for reliable witnesses

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News