Police Body Worn Cameras they are only effective if they are actually recording!!

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1 Police Body Worn Cameras they are only effective if they are actually recording!! The shooting this week of a 40IyearIold Australian woman, Justine Damond, by a Minneapolis Police DepartmentofficerhashighlightedonceagaintheshortcomingswithBodyWornCameras(BWC).Ina case where everyone is searching for answers as to why a woman in her pyjamas was shot dead by a policeofficer,thebodyworncameras,issuedtoboththeofficersinthevehicleandwhichshouldhave providedtheanswers,werenotactive. Unfortunately this is not the first such incident where police officers have been involved in a fatal shootingandthecamerashavenotbeenactiveorfailedtoprovideevidenceofasuitablequality. In2016 Alton Stirlingwasfatally shotby Baton Rouge police.both officers involved intheevent wereequippedwithbwcsbutitiswidelyreportedthatofficialsclaimthecamerasfelloffduringthe struggleanddidnotrecordtheincident,althoughbystandersandcctvdidcapturefootage. Keith Lamont Scott was fatally shot in September 2016 by a CharlotteIMecklenburg Police DepartmentOffice.Inthiscase,theofficerwhoshotScottwasnotwearingacameraandanother officer present and who was wearing a camera did not activate it until after the shot was fired, reportsthewashingtonpost.charlotteimecklenburgpolicedepartmentpublishedthebwcfootage fromthe incident(linkhere); notethebeep on theaudio that indicates whenthe recording was activated. On March 14th 2017, a Freemont detective fatally shot a 16IyearIold Hayward girl during an undercoveroperation.thedetective,whonormallywearsabodycam,didn tdosoonthatday. My preliminary understanding is that it wasn t working and so they weren t using it that day, FreemontChiefofPoliceRichardLucerosaidinarecentinterviewwithTheArgus,referringtothe March14shootingthatendedwithAntiochteenagerElenaMondragondead. Thesetypesofincidentarecontroversialbecause,particularlywithcasessuchasthatofJustineDamond, the circumstances raise a suspicion in the minds of the public that there was a deliberate intent to not record the events taking place. Whilstthe official investigation will hopefully shed further light on this andprovideclarity,thewaythistechnologyiscurrentlyusedwillalwaysholdthepotentialforeventsnot toberecordedasitreliesonmanualactivationbythewearer.asaresultandduetofactorssuchasthe highstresssituation,oftherapidlyunfoldingevents,lackoftrainingordeliberateintent,recordingmay notbestartedwhenitshouldbe.

2 Why$do$Police$wear$body$cameras?$ Although the policies relating to the use of body worn cameras may vary between different police forces/departments, the motivation for their use isbroadlythe same: to record interactions with membersofthepublicthathaveacriminalorinvestigativepurpose.therefore,theyarenotintendedto recordeverythingtheofficerdoesnortheinteractionswiththepublicthatdonotfitthispurposee.g. socialinteraction(sayinghello),givingdirectionsetc.$ Nonetheless,theuseofthesecamerasshouldbebeneficialtoboththepoliceofficerswearingthemand the members of the public. They are intended to help the police by providing a clear record of any criminalactivity that they witness or are involved in investigating, thereby providing valuable evidential dataandaclearandindisputablerecordoftheeventsthattookplace.forthemembersofthepublic, they should provide increased confidence that any interaction that have with police is conducted professionally,withinthescopeofthelawandtherecordingswillsupporttheircaseiftheyconsiderthe interactionisunreasonableorunlawful. When$should$the$Body$Worn$Camera$record?$ Bodyworncamerasarenotnormallyinoperationallthetimeandrecordinghastobemanuallyactivated bythewearer.althoughthereareanumberofdifferentbrandsofcameraavailable,theyalltypically workinthesameway.atthestartofshifttheofficerwillretrieveacameraandinstallitinthemounting on their uniform. It is then turned on which places the camera into standby mode. In order to start recording, the officer must press once or twice or a button on the device; a clear audio and visual indication that the device is recording is typically provided to alert both the wearer and the public nearby. Somecameras,such as thosemade byaxon, and commonly used by police forces around the world, continuously record in the standby mode and as soon as the camera is placed in record mode, the preceding30secondsofvideo(butnotaudio)arealsosaved. Theoccasionsonwhichrecordingshouldbeactivatedwillbethesubjectofeachindividualpoliceforce s policy.forthecharlotteimecklenburg PoliceDepartment (KeithScottincident)their policy states that officersmustfullyactivatetheirbodycameras priortoorinanticipationof interactionswithcivilians resultingfromtrafficstops,suspicious vehicleorpersonsinvestigations,arrests,useofforceincidents andvoluntaryinvestigative conduct.inthe policy, voluntary investigative conduct isdefinedas the meresuspicionofsometypeofcriminalactivitybyaperson, whichfitsthedescriptionofwhypolicesay officersconfrontedscott Why$are$the$cameras$not$recording$all$the$time?$ ItisnotunreasonabletoaskthequestionwhyBWCsarenotrecordingallthetimethatanofficerison shift.infact,thereareanumberofreasonswhythecamerasdonotrecordallthetime.thesereasons include: Police policy (seeabove) and privacy laws that placelimitations on when the cameras should be recording. Thepoliceofficersthemselves,evenwhilstondutyhavearighttoareasonableamountofprivacy. Anobviousexampleofthisiswhenusingthebathroom.However,whennotactivelyrespondingto crimes the police officers must be able to interact amongst themselves and discuss, for example, matters of internal policy without fear on these conversations being monitored with potential reprisalsfromtheirsuperiors. Given than recording from thecameras are stored, usually for at least 30days if not neededfor evidence, the storage requirements would be enormous and add substantially to the cost of the systemifthecameraswereoperatingcontinuously.asitis,thecostsofstoringthecurrentvolume ofvideoisalreadyverysignificantforpoliceforces,oftenrunningintomillionsofdollarsdepending onthenumberofunitsinuse. Investigations would take longer as finding the actual events of interest would become more complex.! 2

3 Civil liberties and perception issues; recording continuously will only further increase the public perception of the wearer. As a result and dueto factors suchas the high stresssituation of the rapidlyunfoldingevents,lackoftrainingordeliberateintent,recordingmaynotbestartedwhenit shouldbe. Why$might$recording$fail$to$be$activated$and$what$can$be$done$about$this?$ Whilstitisnotclearexactlyhowoftenpoliceofficersfailtoactivaterecordingincontraventionofpolicy, sincetypicallythepubliconlybecomeawareofhighprofileincidentssuchasfatalshootings,thereasons whyrecodingisnotstartedmaybenumerous.somereasonsmaybe(notincludingtechnicalfailures): Theofficersimplyforgot.Thismaybebecausetheydon thaveaneedtoregularlystartrecording duetoalowlevelofincidentsandthereforetheyarenotinthehabit. The officer has insufficient training, including scenario based trained, to build up a reflex responsetopressingthebuttonstostartrecording. Theremaybeaconflictwiththeofficer sinstincttofirstseizeaweapontodefendthemselvesin apotentiallyviolentsituation. Theofficer maydeliberately notwant their activities recorded;this is the most controversial pointasitimpliestheofficerisexpectingtohaveanunethicalorunlawfulinteraction. Policeforces/departmentsshouldensurethataclearpolicyconcerningtheuseofBWCsispublishedto allconcernedpersonnelandthateachcontraventionofthepolicyistakenseriously,logged,investigated and addressed with the concerned officer. If it is found that reasons such as the first three above arecontributingtoasignificantnumberofencountersnotbeingrecorded,thiscanlargelybeaddressed through further training and/or modification of procedures. It may also be necessary to review the location where the camera is mounted to ensure the best coverage as well as easy access to the recordingbutton. Somepoliceforceshavealreadyimplementedproceduresthatrequirethedispatchertoactivelyconfirm withtheofficersthattheirbwcsarerecording.thisisprobablysomethingthatshouldbeimplemented withinthestandardoperatingproceduresofallforcesusingbwcs. Finally,persistentand/ordeliberatenonIcompliancemustbemadeaformaldisciplinarymatter. Why$can t$the$activation$of$recording$be$automated?$ In order to automate the start of recording it is necessary to have both a trigger to determine that recordingshouldstartandameansforthecameratobeawareofthistriggerorreceiveaninstruction resultingfromthetriggertostartrecording.! Itshouldbeborninmind,however,thatmostBWCsare currently very basic and don t have the means to communicate with external triggers. Therefore, any practicalsolutionwillrequiretimetodevelopandimplementinanextgenerationcameraalongwithany supportinginfrastructureneeded.theseinturnwillincreasethecapitalandonigoingoperationalcosts ofthesolution. Inaddition,anyautomationshouldnotreplacetheofficerbeingexpectedtostartthecamerarecording themselves whenever possible, but should serve as a supplementary feature to assure that recording starts. Belowwediscusssomeofthepossibletriggersandwhatwouldbeneededtoallowthistriggertostart thecamerarecording. A$signal$from$the$dispatching$systems$ Policeofficersaretypicallyrespondingtoanincidentthatisnotifiedbyadispatcher,ortheynotifythe dispatcherthattheyareattendinganincidentthattheyhavebecomeawareof.therefore,sincethe dispatcherwillusuallybeawareofwhichofficersareattendinganincidentitshouldbepossiblefor themtosendautomatically,viatheirincident/resourcemanagementsystems,asignaltoinstructthe camera to start recording. This can be used in conjunction with procedures that say that the officer mustattempttomanuallystartrecording.! 3

4 Technical$implications$&$limitations$ The current generations of BWCs currently usually don t have any form of wideiarea network connectivity. Therefore, they will need some form of connectivity back to the dispatching systems. Adding 4G/LTE connectivity would provide this. Alternatively it may be possible to integrate the cameratotheofficer sradiousingbluetoothforalowbandwidthconnection. Pros$of$this$approach:$ With4G/LTEthiswouldprovideahighbandwidthconnectionthatwouldalsoallowthedeviceto beaccessedremotelyforrealtimestreamingordownloadingofvideowhilsttheofficerisstillon deployment. Willallowthestatusandhealthofthedevicetobecommunicatedthereforethedispatcherswill beabletoseeifanofficeturnsoffrecordingduringanincidentoriftheunithasdevelopeda fault,thebatteryisbecomingdepletedetc. Cons$of$this$approach:$ Itwilladdtothecapital(purchase)cost(possiblesubstantially)ofeachunit. For4G/LTE,itwillrequireadataplanonthedevicefromathirdpartyprovideriftheforcedoes nothavetheirownsuitablenetwork.thiscouldbealargecostitem. ForBluetooth,theintegrationmaybecomplex andradiovendordependent.inadditionthere maybecomplexlogisticalissuesastheradiowillneedtopairedtothecamera. 4G/LTEwill bedependentoncoverage somay not work reliablyincertainlocationssuch asin buildings. Maysignificantlyincreasethepowerconsumptionandtherebyreducethebatterylifeofeach device. A$signal$from$the$vehicle$for$vehicle$based$officers$ Forofficerswhoarevehiclebaseditshouldbepossibletogenerateatriggerfromvehicleeventssuch asmovingathighspeedorwhenthelightbarisactivated.infact,axonalreadymarketaproduct called AxonSignalwhichallowsarangeoftheircamerastobeautomaticallyactivatedwithvehicle triggers(andothertriggerssuchastheuseoftheirtaserdevice). Technical$implications$&$limitations$ This solution will require a unit to be installed in the vehicle and connected to any relevant and reliabletriggers. Pros$ ShouldprovidereliableactivationinmanycommoncasesforvehicleIbasedofficers. Alikelylowercostofimplementationthanwithnetworkenableddevices. Cons Maynotworkiftheofficerhasleftthevehicleandisoutofrange. Willonlyforvehicletriggers.Therefore,iftheofficerhasleftthevehicleandtheneventsunfold whatwillrequirerecording,thissolutionislesslikelytobeofbenefit. Willbeoflessrelevanttoforcesordivinesthathaveamajorityofpersonnelwhoarenotvehicle based. Use$of$accelerometers$and$other$sensors$to$identify$an$officer s$reaction$to$an$event.$ Whenapoliceofficerrespondstoaneventitifusuallyaccompaniedbyasuddenchangeinactivity. For example, theywillstart running or making nonitypical movements. In addition it is likely that there will be a change in their body such as an increased heart rate. Furthermore, they may automaticallydrawabatonorotherweaponthatwouldindicateaconflictsituation.! 4

5 Technical$implications$&$limitations$ Detecting changes in body characteristics would require an additional sensor to be worn, and detectingthedrawingofaweaponwouldrequireasensortobeincorporatedintotheholster.onthe otherhand,anaccelerometerincorporatedintothecameraitselfshouldbeabletodetectunusual movement or running and therefore automatically trigger recording. Indeed, Bodyworn is one manufacturerwhoisalreadyclaimingtodothiswiththeirdevice. Pros$ Accelerometersshouldberelativelylowcosttoimplementindevices. Doesnotrequireanexternalcommunicationlink(unlessusedwithabodyorholstersensor) Shouldbesoftwaremodifiableallowingforalgorithmstobeadaptedandimprovedovertime. Canbeexpectedtobereliableindetectingabnormalreactionstoevents. Should be able to produce a trigger such as an officer falling down or staggering after an unprovokedattack(combinedwithcontinuousrecordingofthe30secondsorsoleadingupto this trigger could produce a very clear picture of what just happened even when the officer is unabletoreactintime). Cons$ Maynotworkreliablyorneeddifferentprofilesforofficersbasedonhorses,bicyclesetc. Holstertriggers,inparticularmayresultinmoreequipmentthattheofficerhastowear,would havetobeextremelydurablebutmostlikelywillbepronetofrequentfailure. The$impact$of$Body$Worn$Cameras$&$Public$Perception$ It is interesting to see that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is generally opposed to pervasive government surveillance has come out broadly in support of the police use of body worn cameras, butonlyiftheyaredeployedwithinaframeworkofstrongpoliciestoensuretheyprotectthe public without becoming yet another system for routine surveillanceofthe public. The ACLU recognisesthatbwcscanbeawiniwinhelpingtoprotectthepublicagainstpolicemisconduct,andat thesametimeprotectthepoliceagainstfalseclaimsofabuse. AstudybyCambridgeUniversity sinstituteofcriminology,showsthattheusebyofficersofbodyiworn camerasisassociatedwithastartling93%reductionincitizencomplaintsagainstpolice.researcherssay that this may be down to the cameras modifying the behaviour through an observer effect : the awareness that encounters are recorded improves both suspect demeanour and police procedural compliance.essentially,the digitalwitness ofthecameraencouragescoolerheadstoprevail. ThefindingsfromCambridgeUniversityarefurthersupportedbythosefromastudybyFloridaAtlantic University.Keyfindingsfromthisstudyrevealthat87percentofrespondentsagreethatBWCswould improve police officer behaviour and that 70 per cent agree that BWCs would improve how citizens behavewhentheyencounterpolice.whatwasabutsurprisingfromthisstudywastheirexpectationthat peoplewiththemostnegativeviewsofthepolicewouldbemostsupportiveofbwcs.surprisingly,they foundtheoppositetobetrue.citizenswhohadamorepositiveviewofpoliceandthoughttheywere treatingpeoplefairlyanddoingagoodjobhadthemostsupportforbwcs. Another unexpected result of the study was that those citizens who were the most concerned about crimewerelessinclinedtoseebenefitsintheuseofbwcs.however,theresearcherscautionthatthisis an indirectrelationship having to dowith their perceptions of police performance, fear of crime, and beliefthatpolicearenotdoingagoodjobandthereforetheyperceivelessbenefitsofusingbwcs. Inadditiontobenefitofincreasedtransparencyinthepolice sinteractionswiththepublic,bodyworn cameras can also be used to positively show the role of the police and the situations officers find themselves in. According to a report in the Christian Science Monitor, in March 2015, four Cleveland PoliceDepartmentofficerswereinvolvedinashootingincidentthatresultedinpatrolmanDavidMuniz beingshotastheyclimbedthestairstotheodorejohnson sapartment.asofficemunizturnsacorner,! 5

6 Mr.Johnsonopenedfireandtheofficeisrecordedonvideosaying, I vebeenhit.furtherrecordings from Muniz s cam show him and other officers pleading with Johnson to put the gun down whilst Johnsonispleadingwiththeofficerstokillhim. AnotherofficercanbeheardtellingJohnsonto"putthegundownandwe llgetyouallthehelpyou need." "Iknow youshotme,buti m not goingtoshootyou,"saysmuniz,whoisstandingjustafewfeetfrom Johnson. Johnsonstillrefusestodropthegun,whichheisholdingathisside. Afewsecondslaterheraisesthegun,andtheofficersopenfire. Agrand jury determined that the four patrolmen were justified in using lethal force againstjohnson. They hadgone to Johnson s homethat nightafter hiswife went to apolice station andreportedthat Johnsonhadthreatenedtokillbothherandtheirlandlady. Costs$of$deployment$ Thedeploymentofbodyworncamerasbypoliceforcesisnotinsignificant,withjusttheunitsthemselves costingofthe orderus$500 fora standardmodel. Ontopof thisthere are theaccessories,the docking equipmentandthevideostorageandevidencemanagementsoftwarethatinsomecases,suchasaxon s Evidence.com, requires a subscription. Annual support and maintenance costs will also have to be factoredaswellassparesforloss,training,forceexpansionandirreparabledamage.afewexamplesof somerecentbwcprojectscopeandcostsinclude: In November 2015, the London Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), following a successfultrialawardedathreeiyearcontractworth 3.4milliontoAxonPublicSafetyUKLimited, tosupplythempswith22,000cameras. OnMarch7,2017,theSacramentoCityCouncilpassedaresolutionsuspendingcompetitivebidding inthebestinterestsofthecityforthepurchaseofabodyworncamerasanddigitalmediastorage solutionandauthorizingthe CityManager orcitymanager sdesigneetoenterintoacontractwith TASER International, Inc.The council report identifiesthetermsoftheagreement includeafivei yeartimeofperformanceforanotitoiexceedamountof$3,956,628withinitialdeploymentphases of $578,501 and $912,695 during FY2016/17 and FY2017/18 and subsequent annual costs of $821,811fromFY2018/19throughFY2020/21.Thecouncilreportindicatesthatthisisforthesupply of750cameraswith50additionalreservecamerasandafurther70trainingcameras. AreportintheregisterstatesthatGreaterManchesterPoliceareinvestingover 2mover3years for3000bwcsandtheassociatedstorageandsupport. BodyWornCamerasarebigbusinessforthevendorsandthereisnodoubtthatthedemandforthemis only going to increase. Nonetheless, governments and police authorities have to address where the fundingiscomingfrom,withsomepolicedepartmenthavingtomakeachoiceonwhethertospendtheir limited funds on police officers on the street or storage technology. With storage costs alone often runningintomillionsofus$,thiscanbeatoughdecision. Thechoiceoftechnologyandsystemisalsocrucialinmakingsureofasuccessfulprojectthatdeliversthe mostvalue.in2015thetexarkanatexas Police Department suspended their BWC project duetothe largenumberoftechnicalissuesandcamerafailures.thisresultedinthemreturningallthecamerasto themanufacturerl3ivisionforarefund. Future$trends$ GiventhebenefitsalreadyidentifiedtothepublicandpoliceofBWCs,thisisamarketthatisgoingtosee manyincreasesinfunctionalityinthefuture.itisonlyamatteroftimebeforelivestreamingbecomes partandparcelofthebwcsolution,althoughcarefulconsiderationofthefunctionalityandperformance ofthissolutionneedstobemadeagainstit slikelystepincreaseincost. Other functionality such as live facial recognition is starting to become available with digital barriers announcingthismonththattheirsmartvisfacialrecognitionsoftwarehasbeenadaptedtorunonthe! 6

7 Company s body worn cameras. This type of technology, if well implemented, will help the police improve their performance by identifying suspects that would have otherwise gone undetected.however,widespreaduseofthisoftechnologycanbeexpectedtomeetwithstrongpublic oppositionifstrongsafeguardsarenotputinplacefromthebeginningtoensurethatcitizen'srightsto privacyareprotected.! About$the$author:$ Adrian Lappin author of this article and blog site, asafercity.com, is a graduate of City University in London,withadegreeinelectricalandelectronicengineering,andhasover25yearsexperienceworking withministriesofinterior,police,nationalcriticalinfrastructureprotection&otherpublicsafetybodies aswellothergovernmentalandprivateclientsaroundtheworldtodelivercapabilitydevelopmentand organisational transformation projects. In addition to he has also worked with the organising committees, and other key stakeholders, of a number of largeiscale multiisports events to deliver the necessarysystemsandsecurityinfrastructurefortheseevents. SomeofhismorerecentprojectshaveincludedthedesignanddevelopmentofanationalmultiIagency agencycommandcentreinthemiddleeast,variousc4isystemsmodernisationprogrammesandwhat areperhapstheworld slargestcriticalinfrastructureandcitywidesurveillance/safecityprojects. Adrian is available to provide services including consulting, business development, capability development/businesstransformationandprojectmanagementservicestoclientsaroundtheworld. Contact:adrian@asafercity.com asafercity.com 7