December 12, 2016
House Bill No.
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Patron––
§ 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no state or local government department, agency, or instrumentality having jurisdiction over criminal law enforcement or regulatory violations, including but not limited to the Department of State Police and any school division, and no department of law enforcement as defined in § 15.2-836 of the Code of Virginia of any county, city, or town shall purchase or deploy body-worn cameras before the department, agency or instrumentality has adopted and made available for public comment and review a policy for the deployment of such cameras that includes provisions implementing the following requirements:
The …show more content…
The policy states that body-worn cameras shall be turned on during all police interactions with members of the public, except that body-worn cameras shall not be used to conduct general surveillance of members of the public participating in political or other gatherings at which people are exercising their constitutional rights to speak, assemble or petition the government.
The policy includes a clearly defined list of exceptions for when a body-worn camera may or shall be turned off once it is activated, requires documentation and justification each time an exception is exercised, and specifies that violations of the policy will result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination.
The policy specifies where video captured by the body-worn cameras is stored, how long it is stored and who has access to it. All videos with appropriate redactions should be available to the public for review unless they are related to an open and active criminal investigation.
The policy states that individuals filmed by body-worn cameras have a right to review videos