The California Highway Patrol is reviewing footage from body cameras — and procedures for use — based on a yearlong pilot in the Stockton and Oakland offices.
The program, which started in November 2016, yielded an average of 38 gigabytes a day, or 92,000 videos over the year. The 27 terabytes of data were recorded on high-definition Axon cameras and included 30 seconds of pre-recorded video that is attached once the recording starts.
“We always translated it: 27 terabytes or the equivalent of 5,600 DVDs,” CHP CIO Scott Howland said at Techwire’s Insider Briefing last week.
The pre-roll of 30 seconds does not include sound.
“One of the challenges with body cameras is, it is evidentiary stuff. You have to have a chain of evidence to ensure that every video is accounted for and, more importantly, you tag the information on it so when you go to court, you can find the appropriate videos you need,” he said.
The Stockton and Oakland offices were equipped with charging stations that automatically uploaded the cameras' content.
The Oakland Police Department began examining 1,000 files in 2014 as a way to improve community relations. The department worked with Stanford University to analyze the footage, releasing a report in 2016.
“When I came to Oakland, I committed to not only lead this department, but to make OPD one of the best police departments in the country,” Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said in a press release. “This type of work is cutting-edge and progressive in the law enforcement arena. It is imperative that we, as department, examine our interactions, communications and trust-building efforts with our community.”
Oakland had implemented half of the Stanford recommendations by June 2017 and planned on implementing the rest.
Local jurisdictions are in charge of outlining body camera policies, since there has been no state legislation passed.
The Los Angeles Police Department has been looking into body cameras since 2010 and began its current, five-year contract in 2013. The contract is the largest Axon deployment in the country, according to a department spokesman, Sgt. Dan Gomez. It includes CEWs (conducted energy weapons), or electroshock weapons, and cellphones, along with body cameras, for $51.5 million.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department also pilot-tested body cameras. That program lasted from September 2014 to March 2015. No policies were implemented from that pilot since cameras are not being used, according to community information officer Nicole Nishida.
The pilot did not cost the department anything. Axon, VEIVU, VidMic and Digital Ally cameras were tested. Cloud storage was used as part of the program.
Now the department is considering a four-year contract, calling for nearly 6,000 devices and costing $55 million.
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department is looking at body cameras, as well.
There is an “active working group seeing what best practices would be for us,” Sgt. Shaun Hampton, a department spokesman, told Techwire.
“We have several different services with corrections and courts,” Hampton said. He noted that deputies serve as security at county buildings and have different needs based on their daily duties across the county’s three station houses.
“We’re working on policies, procedures and a possible deployment model,” he said.
The county is seeking a best fit and has not decided on an infrastructure for downloading and storing footage.
