On April 14, the Salinas City Council voted to approve the purchase of enough body cameras to outfit every officer in the Salinas Police Department. On April 9, the Capitola City Council unanimously voted to approve a request from their police department to use $100,501.31 in Supplemental Law Enforcement State Funds (SLESF) to purchase a dual video system for police vehicles and body cameras.

Capitola Police Chief Rudy Escalante said the "benefits" of using the equipment were to enhance opportunities to capture evidence, assist in patrolling anti-social behavior, provide impartial and accurate evidence collection, and for greater insight into service delivery.

Organizations including the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) caution that there are many unresolved legal and civil rights issues regarding the police use of Personal Digital Recording Devices (PDRDs). "PDRD video is treated as evidence first and foremost," Rachel Lederman of the NLG wrote in 2014. "This means that regardless of whether the video has captured illegal activity, or is being used in an investigation, it is not accessible to the general public – at least not without an attorney and a federal lawsuit, and even then, it may be difficult and take months or years to obtain the complete videos."

Salinas City Council Approves Police Body Camera System Purchase | Capitola City Council Approves Purchase of Body Cameras for Police

See Also: PDRDs – Quick Fix for Police Misconduct, or Counter- Surveillance Tool?