Policy Webinar

On November 19th at 12:00 PM ET, the BWC TTA provider hosted a webinar on body-worn cameras (BWC) in the medical field and discussed how these programs can work within HIPAA. The webinar provided insights and experiences regarding how body-worn camera programs have or have not impacted police agencies as they relate to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Since the introduction of HIPAA, many police officers have not received training on the act or operate under misinformed assumptions on how HIPAA relates to obtaining information in a medical setting.

This webinar focused on addressing the challenges that agencies and officers can experience when initially implementing a BWC program, especially regarding officer concerns, questions, and hesitations. Panelists highlighted the importance of having officers directly involved in the initial processes when an agency is considering implementing BWCs.

The webinar provided a brief overview of the BWCPIP program goals. The main purpose of the webinar iwa to orient your agency personnel to the programmatic, financial, and administrative requirements of the grant, as well as to the training and technical assistance (TTA) elements of the grant. Both grant administration and TTA will be vital to successful completion of your BWCPIP grant.

This webinar served as an orientation to the FY18 Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Body-Worn Camera Policy and Implementation Program. The intent of this grant program is to help agencies develop, implement, and manage a BWC program as one tool in a law enforcement agency’s comprehensive problem-solving approach to enhance officer interactions with the public, combat crime, and build community trust.

This webinar examined several issues related to regional approaches to BWC program design and implementation, including the benefits from a regional approach, compromises that will likely need to be made, and planning considerations. The webinar featured a brief presentation on general issues regarding regional models in law enforcement, presentations from several BWC PIP sites that have successfully implemented regional BWC programs, and provided an overview of the key considerations that agencies should attend to during the planning phase of a regional BWC implementation.

This webinar featured National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) Executive Director Nelson Bunn and San Diego Deputy District Attorney and subject expert Damon Mosler. They discussed topics that police departments and prosecutors’ offices should consider during BWC planning and implementation, as well as ways to keep prosecutors involved in the BWC discussion after implementation is complete.

The BWC TTA Team hosted a webinar on body-worn camera community education and creating reasonable expectations. This webinar provided information about how and why it is important to educate the community on the limitations and benefits of Body-Worn Cameras (BWCs). It also discussed the many considerations that must be taken into account when releasing BWC footage, including privacy concerns, victims’ rights, and on-going investigation needs.

This webinar reviewed the key trends identified in our review of over 125 BWC PIP policies.  Administrative policy review is a central feature of TTA. The TTA team developed a BWC policy review process to assess the comprehensiveness of BWC policies through a BWC Policy Review Scorecard. Because the policy review process assesses comprehensiveness only and is not prescriptive, agencies vary in the way they deal with specific key issues. 

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) launched the Body-Worn Camera Policy Implementation Project (PIP) in FY 2015 to assist law enforcement agencies with the enhancement or implementation of Body-Worn Camera (BWC) initiatives. The primary goals of PIP are to improve public safety, reduce crime, and improve public trust between police and the citizens they serve. This webinar showcased the progress and lessons learned from three FY15 BWC PIP sites.