BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 69
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
69 (Rodriguez)
As Amended May 22, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+----------------------|
|Public Safety |7-0 |Quirk, Melendez, | |
| | |Gonzalez, | |
| | |Jones-Sawyer, | |
| | |Lackey, Low, | |
| | |Santiago | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+----------------------|
|Privacy |11-0 |Gatto, Wilk, Baker, | |
| | |Calderon, Chang, | |
| | |Chau, Cooper, | |
| | |Dababneh, Dahle, | |
| | |Gordon, Low | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Requires law enforcement agencies to follow specified
best practices when establishing policies and procedures for
downloading and storing data from body-worn cameras.
Specifically, this bill:
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1)States 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.
2)States that 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:
a) 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.
b) 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.
c) Establish specific measures to prevent data tampering,
deleting, and copying, including prohibiting the unauthorized
use, duplication, or distribution of body-worn camera data.
d) Categorize and tag body-worn camera video at the time the
data is downloaded and classified according to the type of
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event or incident captured in the data;
e) Specifically state the length of time that recorded data
shall be stored;
i) Unless either of the paragraphs below 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 be erased,
destroyed, or recycled.
ii) 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 years when the
recording is of an incident involving use of force or an
officer-involved shooting, an incident that leads to the
detention or arrest of an individual, or is relevant to a
formal or informal complaint against an officer or a law
enforcement agency.
iii) If evidence that may be relevant to a criminal
prosecution is obtained from a recording made by a
body-worn camera, the law enforcement agency shall retain
the recording for any time in addition to the amount of
time specified above and in the same manner as is required
by law for other evidence that may be relevant to a
criminal prosecution.
f) 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.
g) If using a third-party vendor to manage the data storage
system, the following factors shall be considered to protect
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the security and integrity of the data:
i) Using an experienced and reputable third-party vendor;
ii) Entering into contracts that govern the vendor
relationship and protect the agency's data;
iii) Using a system that has a built in audit trail to
prevent data tampering and unauthorized access;
iv) Using a system that has a reliable method for
automatically backing up data for storage;
v) Consulting with internal legal counsel to ensure the
method of data storage meets legal requirements for
chain-of-custody concerns; and
vi) Using a system that includes technical assistance
capabilities.
h) 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.
3)Defines "evidentiary data" as 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
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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.
4)Defines "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.
5)Clarifies that the provisions in the bill shall not be
interpreted to limit the public's right to access recorded data
under the California Public Records Act.
EXISTING LAW:
1)States that every person who, intentionally and without the
consent of all parties to a confidential communication, by means
of any electronic amplifying or recording device, eavesdrops
upon or records the confidential communication, whether the
communication is carried on among the parties in the presence of
one another or by means of a telegraph, telephone, or other
device, except a radio, shall be punished by a fine not
exceeding $2,500, or imprisonment in the county jail not
exceeding one year, or in the state prison, or by both that fine
and imprisonment.
2)Defines "confidential communication" to include any
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communication carried on in circumstances as may reasonably
indicate that any party to the communication desires it to be
confined to the parties thereto, but excludes a communication
made in a public gathering or any legislative, judicial,
executive or administrative proceeding open to the public, or in
any circumstance that the parties may reasonably expect that the
communication may be overheard or recorded.
3)Provides that nothing in the sections prohibiting eavesdropping
or wiretapping prohibits specified law enforcement officers or
their assistants or deputies acting within the scope of his or
her authority, from overhearing or recording any communication
that they could lawfully overhear or record.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS: According to the author, "While the 2012 Rialto Study
on body-worn cameras concluded that there is a correlation between
the use of body-worn cameras and the reduction of excessive use of
force complaints, we must not lose sight that this is a developing
technology and we have yet to learn and fully understand how this
technology is being used in the field and the impact it has on
police-citizen behavior and on crime. AB 69 focuses on providing
guidelines for downloading and storing body-worn camera data for
those law enforcement agencies that choose to implement a
body-worn camera program."
Analysis Prepared by:
Stella Choe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN:
0000448
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