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Video Summary:

This bill would establish a grant program to give state and local law enforcement agencies money to buy body cameras for all on-duty police officers. The hope is that these body cameras would improve evidence collection, deter excessive force, and improve both police accountability and transparency.

These programs would operate on the assumption that officers wearing body cameras should minimize recording of data that’s unrelated to law enforcement activities. Officers would also be held accountable for explaining when they don't record activities and situations that should’ve been recorded. Officers would also have to get consent from witnesses and crime victims before recording. Members of the public would be able to file complaints related to the improper use of body cameras.

At the end of the day, these body camera programs would be operating to collect more data from state and local law enforcement agencies on:

Incidents when officers use force — broken down by the race, ethnicity, gender, and age of the person who was the target of force.
The number of complaints filed against law enforcement officers, and the nature of those complaints.
How camera footage is used for evidence collection when investigating crimes.

","official_title":"To establish a pilot grant program to assist State and local law enforcement agencies in purchasing body-worn cameras for law enforcement officers.","short_title":"Police CAMERA Act","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Police Creating Accountability by Making Effective Recording Available Act of 2015 or the Police CAMERA Act\n\nAmends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs to make grants to states, local governments, and Indian tribes to purchase or lease body-worn cameras for use by law enforcement officers, and for expenses related to the implementation of a body-worn camera program, in order to deter excessive force, improve accountability and transparency of use of force by law enforcement officers, assist in responding to complaints against officers, and improve evidence collection.\n\nRequires a grantee to: (1) develop, with community input, policies for the safe and effective use of body-worn cameras, for the secure storage, handling, and destruction of data collected, for protecting the privacy rights of any individual who may be recorded, and for the release of any data collected in accordance with the ...","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable. ","impact":"The general public, law enforcement officers, law enforcement agencies at the state and local level, the Office of Justice Programs, body camera manufacturers, and the Assistant Attorney General. ","argument_for":"Body cameras will help with evidence collection in addition to reducing the use of excessive force by police officers. It’s a positive for both the general public and for law enforcement officials.","argument_against":"Body cameras threaten the privacy of citizens and police officers — especially because there are no standard regulations (at the local or federal level) for how the camera data is stored, used, or destroyed. 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Should More Police Officers Have Body Cameras?