The E-V.I.E.W. System

e-V.I.E.W. System Policy

The e-VIEW (electronic-Video Incident Enforcement Watch) project will contribute to public safety by employing a system that incorporates modern technology available through video monitoring, storage and retrieval capabilities. This system will be designed to improve the Department’s ability to prevent and detect public safety emergencies, criminal conduct, as well as identify and apprehend participants of such events.

This policy will specify rules of acceptable Department use of the e-VIEW system and designate system specifications in order to achieve program goals without compromising the public’s right to privacy.

e-VIEW Design Specifications

This system used by the Fresno Police Department will utilize multiple fixed and adjustable cameras focused on predetermined public areas in public places. Cameras shall be situated in a manner and location that will maximize the field of view of public areas for public safety purposes only. Camera placement will minimize the potential inadvertent capture of images from areas where there would be a reasonable expectation of privacy.

In any location where the view of any camera may compromise a citizen’s privacy expectation, a supervisor shall review the camera’s location and either make a recommendation to re-locate to unit or to employ window-blanking technology to minimize, if not eliminate, the potential for video intrusion.

The system shall be equipped with Pan, Tilt, and Zoom (PTZ) cameras that allow operators to manipulate the framing or focal length of a video image only for the specific purpose of monitoring potential suspicious persons or activities.

Racial Profiling

No operator shall select any person in view of this camera system based solely on their race, ethnicity, or sex for observation. The e-VIEW system shall only be used for purposes directly related to public safety or authorized internal or criminal investigations. The e-VIEW shall not be used to track individuals arbitrarily or based on race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability or other classifications protected by law.

Storage/Retrieval of Images

Video images captured from the e-VIEW system will be automatically downloaded onto a secure digital storage system housed in the Public Safety Facility where they will be stored for 90 days before being overwritten by new data.  The secure digital storage system will be connected to the City’s network and is protected by multiple layers of security including password protected user accounts. 

User accounts will be limited to those police employees with a specific, ongoing need to access the e-VIEW for the purpose of prevention, detection, identification, or apprehension considerations related to public safety emergency response or authorized internal or criminal investigations. All user accounts require approval by the Chief of Police or designee before establishment.

Identifying Monitored Zones

Signage notifying the public that the E-VIEW system is being used and recorded may be posted in conspicuous locations of all areas being monitored.

Monitoring of Employee Access

The e-VIEW system shall be equipped with capabilities that provide an audit trail of system use and user access.

User Access

All persons designated by the Chief of Police as e-VIEW system users shall receive training and a unique user identification in order to access the system. Images stored on servers shall only be accessed and retrieved by authorized system users, and only with prior Project Manager approval, in response to public safety emergencies or authorized internal or criminal investigations.

Unused Video Data

Video data that has not been retained for evidentiary purposes shall not be reproduced, nor shall it be distributed, provided, or shown to other persons, without the approval of the Chief of Police based upon public safety necessity, or pursuant to a court order.

Video Data as Evidence

Video data retained for evidentiary purposes shall only be reproduced for the purpose of case filing and pre-trial discovery with the approval of the appropriate Office Commander, and all copies shall be accounted for by the investigator responsible for maintaining case records related to the video data.

Use of the e-VIEW system will be regularly audited to ensure that the system is being used appropriately and that images are purged by the end of the ninety day storage period.

Pan, Tilt & Zoom (PTZ) Camera Usage

All active observation operations employing PTZ cameras shall be done as the result of specific articulable probable cause.

e-VIEW PTZ camera operators are responsible for protecting the public’s right to privacy as delineated by the Department Values.

e-VIEW PTZ camera operators are forbidden from looking at non-public areas and areas in which there is a reasonable expectation of privacy.

PTZ camera operations will be audited for misuse violations.

PTZ camera images and operators are subject to the same restrictions detailed under “User Access.”

Policy Violations

Unauthorized access to the e-VIEW system, misuse of the e-VIEW system, unauthorized reproduction of e-VIEW images, or unauthorized distribution of e-VIEW images will result in disciplinary action.