Full Notification

Community Information Release – Increase in Deployment of Body Worn Cameras
September 19, 2014

For about two years, the Burlington Police Department (the Department) has used seven “body worn” cameras to improve policing transparency. As a result of the success these systems have had in other communities , as well as recent changes to these systems that have made them more affordable, the Department has planned to expand the use of these cameras across the police force during fiscal year 2015 (July 1, 2014 – June 30, 2015). In September 2014, the first of two program expansions will occur, and 30 new camera systems will be deployed. Training for the first round of system deployment occurred this week and the community will begin to see officers wearing the cameras in the days to come. A second round of 30 cameras will deploy early in calendar year 2015, at which point all patrol officers will have a body-worn camera system.

“Expanding BPD’s use of body-worn cameras was a priority in my FY15 budget,” said Mayor Miro Weinberger. “This system has led to greater officer safety and is an important development in the nationwide landscape that will further improve public trust in and engagement with our outstanding police force in all of Burlington’s neighborhoods.”

The goals for implementing this system are to:

• Enhance public trust;
• Enhance officer safety;
• Preserve visual and audio information for use in current and future investigations;
• Document crime or incident scenes;
• Enhance an officer’s ability to document and review statements and actions for reporting purposes and criminal prosecution; and
• Serve as a tool for officer training.

The Department expects that the use of these systems will evolve over time and with experience. Brief descriptions of the cameras’ uses and limitations follow below.

• Officers will be turning the cameras on for events such as:
o Any report of a crime or active incident (such as a fight or disturbance) in progress;
o Arrests and investigative detentions;
o Traffic stops and pursuits;
o Searches;
o Mental health calls or any other incidents where a person is presenting an altered mental status; and
o Events and incidents reasonably foreseeable to be confrontational citizen contacts, interactions with aggressive subjects, and responses to resistance/uses of force (factors in determining that they are foreseeable include, but are not limited to, initial reports, subject actions upon arrival, and prior history with a subject or location).
• The current technology does not allow the camera system to record for a full 10 hour shift, and video storage technology/cost would make it prohibitive to store 10 hours of video per day for every officer.

Inside a residence, absent exigent circumstances, it is required that officers advise those present that a recording is being captured. In other settings, officers should inform individuals that they are being recorded whenever possible.

Additional description governing the use of body worn cameras is included in Department policy, available online. Please see the Police Department website (http://www.bpdvt.org) for more details.