The Quarterly
will keep our law enforcement agencies and their partners and supporters informed of developments, trends, and news within the BWC field and encourage involvement in our ongoing activities.
The Quarterly
provides the most up-to-date tools and technical assistance materials for your continued success in navigating and implementing a long-lasting, successful BWC program.
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In This Issue:
- BWC TTA Team Spotlight
- BWC TTA Recap
- The Body-Worn Camera Toolkit Training Spotlight
- Featured BWC TTA Resources
- Latest Research on BWCs
- Special Feature: Body-Worn Camera Training Guide
- Practices from the Field
- BWCs in the News
Upcoming Events
- Webinar: Body-Worn Camera Policy Implementation Program Introductory Webinar for FY2017 Grantees. November 20, 2017 @ 2:00-3:00 PM ET. To register online, click here.
Quicklinks
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Welcome to the FY17 BWC PIP Sites!
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As part of President Trump’s commitment to expand funding, training, and evidentiary gathering tools for law enforcement agencies and justice communities, the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), part of Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP), has provided over $58 million to Body-Worn Camera (BWC) Policy and Implementation Program during the past three years to respond to the immediate needs of local and tribal law enforcement organizations. The BWC Policy and Implementation Program significantly expanded
in 2017 with BJA’s additional awards to 84 agencies, bringing the three year total to 263 awards.
Of these 84 agencies, 7 were categorized as extra large agencies, 11 were large agencies, 52 were medium agencies, 14 were small agencies.
To date, BJA has processed 630 applications from 48 states, territories, the District of Columbia, and tribal governments. These applicants requested over $104 million in federal funds and sought to purchase nearly 105,000 cameras.
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The BWC TTA Team Spotlight
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Charles Stephenson
BWC TTA Senior Advisor
Charles Stephenson is a senior advisor for the BWC Training and Technical Assistance program and is currently a public safety technologist for CNA. For the past 15 years, he has assisted public safety agencies address their technology needs and challenges while supporting the DOJ's Bureau of Justice Assistance along with various Office of Justice Programs bureaus
such as the National Institute of Justice and the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Centers. Some of his more notable work has involved implement body-worn cameras, using situational awareness tools, and developing dynamic open architecture radios, gunshot detection technologies, and methods to combat the illicit use of cell phones in correctional facilities. Mr. Stephenson is a retired Army officer who served in the Signal and Ordnance Corps. Mr. Stephenson holds an MBA in project management from Columbia Southern University and a BS from the University of Maryland.
Meet the rest of the BWC TTA Team
here.
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Speakers Bureau
The Body-Worn Camera Speakers Bureau connects BWC Subject Matter Expert's with associations and agencies that request a speaker at an organized state, local, or tribal event. To date, the BWC TTA Team has responded to 29 requests. For each, an SME attended and presented on BWC implementation.
2017 BWC TTA Regional Meeting
On October 5 - 6, 2017, BJA and the BWC TTA team held the third BWC regional meeting in Omaha, Nebraska.
The meeting covered promising practices in body-worn camera training and provided chiefs and command staff with information about how to work with communities, the media, and officers to implement body-worn cameras. Police chiefs, their command staff, officers, local government officials, city managers, and other stakeholders were invited to attend and participate.
For handouts, presentations, and the summary report, continue
here
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The IACP 2017 Annual Conference
On Saturday, October 21, 2017, members of the BWC TTA Team conducted two workshops during the recent International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) 2017 Annual Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The first workshop addressed challenges and solutions for small agencies who are implementing body-worn cameras. The second workshop focused on managing the narrative around a critical incident as captured by body-worn cameras.
For handouts, presentations, and the summary report, continue
here
.
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The Generic Request for Proposals (RFP) Template
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The Generic Request for Proposals is a document that serves as a guide for agencies wishing to obtain body-worn cameras via a competitive process and using a Request for Proposals (RFP) mechanism. The Generic RFP will assist you in putting together your own RFP. It serves as a model for things to include. It is based on a number of existing RFPs from different agencies and upon the needs of agencies that purchase body-worn cameras.
To view the RFP template, click
here.
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Featured BWC TTA Resources
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Webinars
Our monthly webinars have covered topics such as
best practices in the BWC procurement process, the importance of reviewing and refining the use-of-force policy in BWC programs, recommendations on how to meet the BJA requirements, why these requirements are so important, how PIP agencies fare in policy review, how to avoid setbacks, model policy components, data retention and storage options, and how to manage and respond to the media and community after a crisis or high-profile event.
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BWC Policy Review Scorecard
As part of the BJA BWC Policy and Implementation Program, a TTA team—composed of members of CNA, Arizona State University, and Justice and Security Strategies, Inc.— created a BWC Policy Review Scorecard, which assesses the comprehensiveness of an agency’s BWC policy, captures local issues that influence policy (e.g., specific state regulations), and identifies areas for policy enhancement. Interested agencies can access the scorecard
here. Instructions for completing the scorecard can be found
here.
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Sample Policies of BWC PIP Sites
An agency's BWC policy is essential to the success of its BWC program. To view example policies from actual BWC Policy and Implementation Program (PIP) sites, click
here
. These policies are provided with the permission of the agencies. Please note that these agencies strive to continuously review and update their policies to ensure that they meet the needs of the department and the communities they serve.
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Latest Research on Body-Worn Cameras
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The City of London Police (CoLP) force received a grant to provide body-worn video cameras (BWVCs) to front-line operational staff. The bid included a proposal for evaluation of the effect the technology may have on the main areas of concern. There are numerous benefits envisaged in the correct use of this technology. This report focused on these aims, through collection and analysis of relevant data, alongside an exploration of the expectations, beliefs, attitudes and knowledge about the use of BWVCs among officers, and the change to these after use. This includes questions about the opinions of officers regarding time likely to be saved in prosecution processes, and conviction rates. BWVCs effects on complaints were also a key concern.
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One of the most compelling perceived benefits of BWCs involves the potential for reductions in citizen complaints and police use of force. A handful of early studies reported significant reductions in both outcomes following BWC adoption, but several recent studies have failed to document such effects. The current study explores this question using data from a randomized controlled trial conducted in the Spokane, Washington Police Department. The study explores the effects of BWCs on use of force, complaints against officers, and officer injuries, using more than three years of official department data pre- and post-BWC deployment. The outcomes of interest are rare in Spokane, which limited both statistical power and the results from significance testing.
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External stakeholders’ acceptance of a police innovation shapes how it spreads and impacts the larger criminal justice system. Therefore, a lack of support among external stakeholders for BWCs can short-circuit their intended benefits. Existing research studies have, however, focused on the implications of BWCs for police officers and the citizens with whom they come into direct contact. As such, there is little direction for agencies concerning the perceptions and concerns about BWCs from others who are affected by a department’s decision to implement a new program. The current study addressed this lack of guidance by identifying a range of stakeholders in two U.S. cities where the police department had recently implemented a BWC program.
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This article provides a commentary of Northamptonshire Police’s 10 year body -worn video (BWV) journey from a small pilot in 2006 to a highly developed position whereby BWV is culturally accepted and embedded across the force (with the exception of firearms officers). The availability of digital evidence is increasing and is
growing in significance, and this brings with it a number of challenges. In order to combat this specific issue, Northamptonshire police have tried to create and maintain a device-agnostic BWV solution, which acknowledges that the technology is rapidly changing and requires flexibility. This is not unique to BWV technology, as these same issues exist in terms of mobile device extraction, CCTV, etc. Through the development and maintenance of their own internal supporting infrastructure, Northamptonshire Police have been able to operate this solution to good effect.
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Special Feature
BJA National Body-Worn Camera Toolkit
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The BJA National Body-Worn Camera Toolkit is a comprehensive clearinghouse for criminal justice practitioners interested in planning and implementing a BWC program strengthen community trust and confidence in the justice system and improve officer and community safety.
This toolkit organizes frequently asked questions, resources, and other information by key topics areas, including research, policy, technology, privacy, training, and stakeholders.
This BJA National Body-Worn Camera Toolkit consolidates and translates the developing body of knowledge on BWCs for law enforcement, criminal justice professionals, advocacy organizations, and community members.
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Practices From the Field:
Bedford County, Virginia
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Body-Worn Camera Program :
Bedford County, Virginia, Sheriff's Office
In July 2017, the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office, an FY2016 BJA BWC-PIP grantee, expanded their BWC program to include the field division, school resource officers, civil process servers, courtroom security, vice/narcotics, and criminal investigations. Bedford County sergeants regularly review BWC videos to identify examples of model officer performance and examples of suboptimal responses. With permission of the officers involved, these videos are then used for training purposes, which officers have reported as beneficial to their performance and has increased officer acceptance of the cameras.
To learn more about the Bedford County Sheriff's Office, visit their website
here
.
If your agency would like to be featured in our next Quarterly Newsletter, please
contact us
.
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Body-Worn Cameras in the News
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The city of Clarksville has been awarded a federal grant for body cameras. The grant requires the city to match the total, requiring the City Council to approve a resolution which will promise to sustain the body camera program after the grant money runs out.
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The city of Portland has reached a tentative agreement with its police unions on new three-year contracts that would increase wages and require officers to start wearing body cameras.
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Members of the Salamanca Police Department can expect some new equipment coming their way. The Common Council Wednesday authorized the purchase of eight body-worn cameras for the police department for $23,515 under state bid pricing. The purchase of cameras from WatchGuard of Allen, Texas, would be done under the United States Department of Justice grant for Small Agency Body-Worn Camera Policy and Implementation Program.
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Spokane’s slow road to implementing body-worn cameras was a model of civic engagement and forethought. The department tested different cameras extensively – “We even put ’em on a dog one of our K-9s,” Major Kevin King said. It started early to work through objections from “naysayers” and the officers union. It partnered with Arizona State University to research the use and effect of the cameras. And it conducted a lot of public meetings.
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Beginning Nov. 1, Allentown will become Pennsylvania's largest city to outfit every patrol officer with body-worn cameras. The department is also first among Lehigh Valley cities to begin using the cameras. Designed to boost accountability and provide evidence for prosecutions, the cameras are not foolproof and have limitations, experts say. But they are increasingly sought by law enforcement agencies statewide, particularly with a new Pennsylvania law that expands the use of audio recording with video and offers guidelines on the public release of footage recorded by police.
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Points of view or opinions in this content are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
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This project was supported by Grant No. 2015-DE-BX-K002 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Office for Victims of Crime, and the SMART Office. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Points of view or opinions in this content are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
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