Bill Text: CA AB69 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

---

Bill Title: Peace officers: body-worn cameras.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2015-10-03 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 461, Statutes of 2015. [AB69 Detail]

Download: California-2015-AB69-Amended.html

---

BILL NUMBER: AB 69	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 2, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 22, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 4, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 21, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 16, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Rodriguez
   (Coauthor: Assembly Member Weber)

                        DECEMBER 18, 2014

   An act to add Section 832.18 to the Penal Code, relating to peace
officers.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 69, as amended, Rodriguez. Peace officers: body-worn cameras.
   Existing law makes it a crime to intentionally record a
confidential communication without the consent of all parties to the
communication. Existing law exempts specified peace officers from
that provision if they are acting within the scope of their
authority.
   This bill would require law enforcement agencies to consider
specified best practices when establishing policies and procedures
for downloading and storing data from body-worn cameras, including,
among other things, prohibiting the unauthorized use, duplication, or
distribution of the data, and establishing storage periods for
evidentiary and nonevidentiary data, as defined.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 832.18 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
   832.18.  (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish
policies and procedures to address issues related to the downloading
and storage data recorded by a body-worn camera worn by a peace
officer. These policies and procedures shall be based on best
practices.
   (b) When establishing policies and procedures for the
implementation and operation of a body-worn camera system, law
enforcement agencies, departments, or entities shall consider the
following best practices regarding the downloading and storage of
body-worn camera data:
   (1) Designate the person responsible for downloading the recorded
data from the body-worn camera. If the storage system does not have
automatic downloading capability, the officer's supervisor should
take immediate physical custody of the camera and should be
responsible for downloading the data in the case of an incident
involving the use of force by an officer, an officer-involved
shooting, or other serious incident.
   (2) Establish when data should be downloaded to ensure the data is
entered into the system in a timely manner, the cameras are properly
maintained and ready for the next use, and for purposes of tagging
and categorizing the data.
   (3) Establish specific measures to prevent data tampering,
deleting, and copying, including prohibiting the unauthorized use,
duplication, or distribution of body-worn camera data.
   (4) Categorize and tag body-worn camera video at the time the data
is downloaded and classified according to the type of event or
incident captured in the data.
   (5) Specifically state the length of time that recorded data shall
be stored.
   (A) Unless subparagraph (B) or (C) applies, a law enforcement
agency shall retain nonevidentiary data including video and audio
recorded by a body-worn camera for a minimum of 60 days, after which
it  will   may  be erased, destroyed, or
recycled.  An agency may keep data for more than 60 days to 
 have it available in case of a citizen complaint and to
preserve transparency. 
   (B) A law enforcement agency shall retain evidentiary data
including video and audio recorded by a body-worn camera under this
section for a minimum of  three   two 
years under any of the following circumstances:
   (i) The recording is of an incident involving the use of force by
a peace officer or an officer-involved shooting.
   (ii) The recording is of an incident that leads to the detention
or arrest of an individual.
   (iii) The recording is relevant to a formal or informal complaint
against a law enforcement officer or a law enforcement agency.
   (C) If evidence that may be relevant to a criminal prosecution is
obtained from a recording made by a body-worn camera under this
section, the law enforcement agency shall retain the recording for
any time in addition to that specified in paragraphs (A) and (B), and
in the same manner as is required by law for other evidence that may
be relevant to a criminal prosecution. 
   (D) An agency establishing procedures for a body-worn camera
system shall work with its legal counsel to determine a retention
schedule to ensure that storage policies and practices are in
compliance with all relevant laws and adequately preserve evidentiary
chains of custody.  
   (E) Records or logs of access and deletion of data from body-worn
cameras shall be retained permanently. 
   (6) State where the body-worn camera data will be stored,
including, for example, an in-house server which is managed
internally, or an online cloud database which is managed by a
third-party vendor.
   (7) If using a third-party vendor to manage the data storage
system, the following factors shall be considered to protect the
security and integrity of the data:
   (A) Using an experienced and reputable third-party vendor.
   (B) Entering into contracts that govern the vendor relationship
and protect the agency's data.
   (C) Using a system that has a built-in audit trail to prevent data
tampering and unauthorized access.
   (D) Using a system that has a reliable method for automatically
backing up data for storage.
   (E) Consulting with internal legal counsel to ensure the method of
data storage meets legal requirements for chain-of-custody concerns.

   (F) Using a system that includes technical assistance
capabilities.
   (8) Require that all recorded data from body-worn cameras are
property of their respective law enforcement agency and shall not be
accessed or released for any unauthorized purpose, explicitly
prohibit agency personnel from accessing recorded data for personal
use and from uploading recorded data onto public and social media
Internet Web sites, and include sanctions for violations of this
prohibition.
   (c) (1) For purposes of this section, "evidentiary data" refers to
data of an incident or encounter that could prove useful for
investigative purposes, including, but not limited to, a crime, an
arrest or citation, a search, a use of force incident, or a
confrontational encounter with a member of the public. The retention
period for evidentiary data are subject to state evidentiary laws.
   (2) For purposes of this section, "nonevidentiary data" refers to
data that does not necessarily have value to aid in an investigation
or prosecution, such as data of an incident or encounter that does
not lead to an arrest or citation, or data of general activities the
officer might perform while on duty.
   (d) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to limit the
public's right to access recorded data under the California Public
Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7
of Title 1 of the Government Code).