DEPARTMENT: Police
DEPARTMENT HEAD: William P. McManus
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide
SUBJECT:
Police Body Worn Cameras
SUMMARY:
At the request of the City Council, the San Antonio Police Department has conducted a pilot program to explore and assess the viability of deploying Body Worn Digital Recording Systems (BWDRS), commonly referred to as body cameras, within its ranks.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
SAPD has installed mobile video and voice recording equipment (COBAN) in marked patrol vehicles. This equipment has the capability to gather video evidence as a recording of officer and citizen interaction from the perspective of the patrol vehicle.
Body worn cameras are a relatively new development in policing and the subject of significant discussion in the law enforcement and civil liberties communities. Current events across the nation have brought this issue to the forefront.
On January 15, 2014, SAPD presented to the Governance Committee information regarding a proposal for a body worn camera pilot program, as well as current technology the department has in place. The San Antonio Airport Police adopted and issued body worn cameras in Spring of 2014.
Historical
Proponents of body cameras argue that recording police interactions with citizens may help protect police departments from spurious lawsuits, protect citizens from police misconduct, and provide evidentiary support in criminal cases
SAPD initiated its body cameras pilot program in March of 2014. During the pilot program six different models of body worn cameras were evaluated based on studies conducted by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Each vendor provided 25 for testing and the equipment was issued to officers from the Downtown Bike Unit and the Westside Patrol Substation. The pilot was designed to gather data on the technology's effects on citizen and police behavior/accountability, evidentiary value, operation feasibility, program costs, compatibility with COBAN, and other factors.
SAPD staff continued to monitor the results of other cities' pilot programs and review the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), recommendations. In September of 2014, PERF in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), released their report "Implementing a Body-Worn Camera Program, Recommendations and Lessons Learned." This report outlined and supported the issuance of body worn cameras, including recommendations on operation and policies of body cameras for law enforcement. The report also noted that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is in favor of such programs.
The 2014 PERF study included concerns expressed by civil rights groups and legal experts over data retention and security, privacy concerns, and the need of a model policy regulating use of the technology.
Draft Policy
The 2014 PERF report included policy recommendations for police departments using body cameras or having interest in doing so. The draft policy utilized by SAPD during its BWDRS pilot program met the recommendations outlined and addressed the major concerns noted by the 2014 PERF study.
Key issues addressed in the policy include the following:
· When to begin and end recording (e.g. at the receipt of a call, or immediately prior to initiating a contact with an individual and until the contact is complete);
· When not to record (e.g. in personal areas, patient care areas of hospitals, when contacting confidential informants or covert personnel);
· Who can access stored records and who can authorize requests to view videos; and
· Video retention and deletion time tables.
Both the SAPD Labor Relations Committee and the San Antonio Police Officers' Association have assisted in the development and review of the pilot program and will make recommendations to the Chief of Police regarding the feasibility of deploying BWDRS units for permanent use.
Overview of Training and Evaluation
The pilot program focused on four main issues/priorities while testing the various systems. These were:
1. Ease of usability for the officers
2. Capabilities/durability of the units
3. Storage and management of video
4. Support personnel needed to support the program
Challenges
Upon conclusion of the testing phase of the body cameras pilot program and the analysis of the data, the following Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats were identified.
Strengths |
Weaknesses |
· Coban In-Car video currently deployed |
· Lack of support personnel |
· Officers trained and familiar with use of video as evidence |
· Lack of storage |
· |
· Cost of storage |
· Internal capacity to train and deploy |
· Time spent uploading and tagging |
Opportunities |
Threats |
· Accountability |
· Limited recording time |
· Public trust and confidence |
· Limited battery life |
· Resolution of complaints |
· Rapidly evolving technology |
· Decreased use of force and complaints |
|
The pilot program demonstrated the value of body cameras for law enforcement purposes. Most of the systems demonstrated an ease of use and ruggedness required for field deployment. The video/evidence provided by the cameras added an extra layer of critical documentation which would be of great value to the Department. Overall the pilot program demonstrated:
Next Steps
Initial deployment will be to the Downtown Bike Patrol Unit (72 body cameras) and the Parks Police (179 body cameras). These Units have been selected since they currently do not have video support. The Downtown Bike Patrol does not utilize patrol vehicles and thus does not have access to the Coban in-car system. The Parks Police have not been issued Coban in-car systems, and a majority of their operations are on foot, ATV or bicycle
With the adoption and deployment of body cameras for the Park Police and the Downtown Bike Patrol Unit an assessment will need to be completed regarding the current inventory of computers and each facilities bandwidth/infrastructure to support the program. The Downtown Bike Patrol offices, being part of the pilot program, have enough computers and bandwidth to support the program. However, it has been determined that the Park Police HQ and facilities current computer inventory and bandwidth are insufficient to handle the deployment of body cameras.
Storage
Based on an analysis of other agencies usage and what they are recording with their body cameras deployment, it is estimated that an officer will generate approximately three hours (2.7 gigabytes) of video per day. Total storage needs will be determined by the number of body cameras deployed.
Total initial deployment would consist of 251 body cameras. The deployment of 251 body cameras would increase our storage needs from the current (In-car based usage) by 33.3% taking us from 1,536 hours of video per day (1.5 Terabytes) to approximately 2,048 hours of video per day (2.0 Terabytes).
ISSUE:
Review the body cameras pilot program results and determine the feasibility and cost of deploying a body worn police camera system for the San Antonio Police Department to provide support outside the vicinity of patrol vehicles. Explore the viability of providing video support to units currently without in-car video systems (Downtown Bike Patrol and Parks Police).
ALTERNATIVES:
Not proceed with a body camera program and continue to rely on the mobile in-car video systems currently being deployed.
Proposed Deployment (Depending on Funding)
FISCAL IMPACT:
The fiscal impact of this program will be determined by the make, model, and manufacturer selected to provide body cameras to the San Antonio Police Department.
Additional cost considerations will be those associated with the storage of video derived from the body cameras and whether an internal (City) storage system or a Hosted (also known as "Cloud") storage system is selected.
Additional staffing will be required to support the system. Technical staff will be needed to work on the daily upkeep of the body cameras and their back office systems. Administrative staff will be required in order to manage and administer the growing video library created by the implementation of a body cameras program. This will include administering the video library for evidence management as well as responding to Open Record Requests (ORRs).
Estimated Costs - Five (5) Years - 251 Units:
* Personnel costs are shown cumulatively.
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City of San Antonio adopt a program to outfit its Downtown Bike Patrol Officers and Park Police Officers with body cameras. Additional consideration will be given to any upgrades and changes in technology and capabilities which have occurred over the last 12 months.
Dependent upon which system is deployed, costs would range from an approximate low of $2.2 million to an approximate high of $8 million, for equipment, method of storage, infrastructure, and support personnel.
It is also recommended that the San Antonio Police Department continue to monitor and evaluate body cameras systems for possible future deployment to the other units within the Department. Future deployment of a body cameras system will be based on:
· The end of life cycle and phasing out of the current in-car video systems
· Funding availability
· Emerging technology
· Prioritization of Units which would most greatly benefit from the system