Title
Recommendation to Accept the Police Department's Draft Policy for the Taser AXON Flex Body Cameras Prior to Deployment by the Police Department. (Police 3121)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Elizabeth D. Warmerdam, Interim City Manager
Re: Review of the Draft Policy for the Taser AXON Flex Body Cameras Prior to Deployment by Members of the Police Department
BACKGROUND
On June 2, 2015, City Council authorized the appropriation of $424,752.61 from the Police Department FY14-15 budget to purchase the Taser AXON Flex body camera and an accompanying EVIDENCE.com five year support service contract.
During the Council meeting, the Chief of Police acknowledged that the cameras would not be deployed until the Council and public had the opportunity to review the body worn camera draft policy (see Exhibit 1).
DISCUSSION
The City of Alameda Police Department's body worn camera policy was created utilizing research by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). All of these organizations analyze nationwide incidents and have come up with recommendations and "best practice" guidance when it comes to agency policy development. In addition to the research by these organizations, body worn camera policies were reviewed from local law enforcement agencies, including San Leandro and Fremont.
The COPS Office partnered with PERF to support an extensive research project that explored numerous policy and implementation questions surrounding body worn cameras. The COPS Office is the component within the U.S. Department of Justice dedicated to public trust and mutual respect. PERF is a national membership organization of police executives primarily from the largest city, county and state law enforcement agencies in the United States, which includes the United States Department of Justice. As a result of this partnership, a publication called, "Implementing a Body-Worn Camera Program: Recommendations and Lessons Learned" was developed. This publication resulted in 33 recommendations. All of these recommendations were considered and a majority of them implemented in the development of Alameda's policy.
The final product resulted in a comprehensive seven page policy that addressed many important topics, such as activation, privacy, retention, storage and access. There is pending legislation (AB66) that may add other mandatory policy components. The Police Department's policy will be modified to reflect any changes in Federal or State Law.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is no financial impact from this action.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
There is no municipal code impact from this action.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This action is not a project for the purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under CEQA Guidelines section 10561(b)(3) as there is no possibility that this action may have a significant effect on the environment.
RECOMMENDATION
Accept the Police Department's draft policy for the Taser AXON Flex Body Cameras prior to deployment by the Police Department.
Respectfully submitted,
Paul J. Rolleri, Chief of Police
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Elena Adair, Finance Director
Exhibit:
1. Draft Policy Portable Audio Video Recorders