Body Cameras for Santa Cruz Police on City Council Agenda

SCPD has contacted body camera vendors. According to police estimates, the initial year’s cost for outfitting SCPD officer with body worn cameras ranges from $200,000 to $225,000 for the physical equipment and infrastructure. The department says equipment costs for each following year range from approximately $110,000 to $140,000. The cost estimates do not account for the additional staffing that could be necessary to manage the program at the police department, as well as with IT.

The call for police to wear body cameras by the Santa Cruz community was amplified following the killing of Sean Arlt on October 16 by officers with SCPD. The Santa Cruz Police Department, however, has been planning on submitting a body camera proposal to the city council long before that fatal incident occurred.

Activists calling for greater transparency and accountability are still having trouble obtaining the audio and video surveillance footage SCPD has of Arlt's killing. The officers who killed Arlt were not wearing body cameras, but one officer was recording audio, and a video camera mounted on an SCPD vehicle was also running.

Santa Cruz Police refuse to release either recording.

The American Civil Liberties Union has published a "model act" for the regulation of police body cameras. Some of the recommendations regarding the public's right to access the footage include:

Video footage shall be automatically retained for no less than three (3) years if the video footage captures images involving:
--- Any use of force
--- An encounter about which a complaint has been registered by a subject of the video footage

Body camera video footage shall also be retained for no less than three (3) years if a longer retention period is voluntarily requested by:
--- Any member of the public who is a subject of the video footage
--- Any parent or legal guardian of a minor who is a subject of the video footage
--- A deceased subject's next of kin or legally authorized designee


Read more:

https://www.aclu.org/other/model-act-regulating-use-wearable-body-cameras-law-enforcement


Santa Cruz City Council Agenda:

http://scsire.cityofsantacruz.com/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=726&doctype=AGENDA


Santa Cruz City Council contact info:

citycouncil [at] cityofsantacruz.com

cmathews [at] cityofsantacruz.com
cchase [at] cityofsantacruz.com
mposner [at] cityofsantacruz.com
dterrazas [at] cityofsantacruz.com
pcomstock [at] cityofsantacruz.com
dlane [at] cityofsantacruz.com
rnoroyan [at] cityofsantacruz.com