Laws governing how and when police body-worn cameras can be used and whether the footage is released vary considerably across the country. The Urban Institute has developed a legislation tracker to find out more about passed and pending state legislation. Recently, the Urban Institute updated the tracker and published an article on five new trends in state body-worn camera legislation:
- States are developing evidence-based model policies and standards;
- There’s no nationwide standard on when footage is considered public record;
- Privacy issues continue to surface;
- State guidelines regarding officer viewings of body camera footage before investigations are rare, but needed; and
- It’s not just about state legislation (but also includes local agencies’ policiesand processes).
For a state by state breakdown on passed or pending state legislation, visit https://apps.urban.org/features/body-camera-update/.