Body-worn-camera policies provide a glimpse of future technology-related challenges 

Civil-rights organizations argued that the value of body-worn camera would be reduced noticeably, if police were given the latitude to decide which video was made public and watching video is not made public. Such an arrangement would allow police to use video in cases to exonerate officers, but many questioned whether video would be used to implicate those who use force improperly.

But making all video from body-worn cameras open to the public creates issues, as well. In the state of Washington, an open-ended policy was tested quickly by a citizen who asked for all video to be shared with him. Upon reviewing the request, it was determined that meeting the request would require a tremendous number amount of resources and a great deal of time on the back on the part of the public-safety entity.

In addition, there has been an ongoing debate whether officers should have the option to turn off the body-worn cameras. From a practical IT standpoint, allowing officers to turn the cameras on only when necessary greatly reduce the amount of storage and power needed to operate the cameras. But the civil-rights organizations and others said the body-worn cameras should be on at all times during a shift, because allowing officers to turn the cameras on and off could lead to the exact scenario that Chicago police have claimed occurred in the O’Neal incident.

Of course, there are some very notable implications associated with the notion of leaving a camera on throughout an officer’s shift. Perhaps the most awkward of these was the notion that the camera would be operating as an officer went to the bathroom. I can’t imagine any officer—or anyone using the same bathroom when the officer was present—wanting that part of their day on video, particularly if was deemed open to the public.

My guess is that a solution could be found for that sort of issue, but having an always-on body camera also could have some very significant operational impacts.

During the course of the day officers are going to go onto the property of private citizens and places of business to conduct interviews and investigations at scenes of incidents. However if the officer does this work while wearing a body camera that is recording at all times, the officer will shoot video of these private residences, businesses, etc.

If the camera is on and the video is an open public record, a criminal planning a burglary no longer may need to go to a building to “case the joint;” he/she could gather the same information from looking at the video via computer and Internet access.