Body Worn Camera Program

A Body Worn Camera is a camera system on the person of a uniformed law enforcement officer, or an officer prominently displaying the officer’s badge or other insignia, that is capable of recording video and intercepting oral communications.

Yes, body worn camera (BWC) systems have limitations.  For example:

• BWC systems do not necessarily capture everything that is occurring during an incident (e.g. slight movements or indicators of resistance by a subject; things that cannot be seen or heard by the officer or the BWC system; statements that were not recorded due to policy; etc.).
• Conversely, in some cases, a BWC system may record images or audio that were not or could not be seen, heard or perceived by the officer.
• BWC systems do not record or analyze physiological or biometric data of the officer wearing the camera and can not determine an officer’s or any other individual’s state of mind.
• BWC system video and audio alone can not determine the officer’s situational awareness and perception of what is taking place during an incident or interaction.

The Anne Arundel County Police Department has adopted a policy and practice to utilize Body Worn Cameras (BWCs) for the purposes of:

• Strengthening police accountability; 
• Promoting de-escalation by both law enforcement officers and those they encounter; 
• Enhancing the ability to resolve officer-involved incidents and complaints; 
• Improving transparency; 
• Identifying and correcting internal agency training, policy and other issues; 
• Strengthening officer performance and safety; and 
• Increasing community safety.

Body Worn Cameras (BWCs) will be worn by Anne Arundel County Police Department law enforcement officers of all ranks when they are:

• In uniform and on duty;
• In uniform while working secondary employment; and
• In uniform while operating a department vehicle.

Officers and detectives on duty in plain clothes or business attire will wear BWCs within the limitations described in the Annotated Code of Maryland.  Officers and detectives in plain clothes will not be required to wear a BWC during the normal course of their duty, unless the officer or detective is wearing an external ballistic or tactical vest carrier; or when participating in law enforcement activity, and while prominently displaying the officer’s or detective’s badge or other official insignia identifying themselves as a law enforcement officer.

Body Worn Cameras (BWCs) will be worn on the officer’s outermost garment, at chest level to maximize the BWCs field of view; and to facilitate operation of the BWC by the officer who is wearing it.

Quick Response Team (SWAT) members may also wear a BWC system that is mounted to their helmet.

The Anne Arundel County Police Department has adopted the Axon Body 3 camera system for all officers and the Axon Flex 2 camera system for limited use by members of the Quick Response Team (SWAT).

The Anne Arundel County Police Department will have Body Worn Cameras (BWCs) for each sworn officer of all ranks.

Each sworn officer will be issued two (2) BWCs so the BWCs can be rotated between being worn and being placed in a dock for battery charging, video and audio uploading, and BWC system updates.  

In addition, there are extra BWCs in the Police Department’s inventory to facilitate quick replacement of malfunctioning BWCs.

There are about 1,680 BWCs in the Police Department’s Inventory for deployment and replacement.

Training and deployment of Body Worn Cameras (BWCs) is expected to take place between July and October 2021.  As classroom size groups of officers receive training, they will leave their training session with their BWCs and will begin using them immediately.  Between July and October 2021, you will see an increasing number of officers wearing BWCs as officers receive their training.

No, Body Worn Cameras (BWCs) are not recording all the time.

When officers are required to wear their BWC by policy, the BWC will be turned on and will be in “Pre-Event Buffering Mode.”  While in Pre-Event Buffering Mode, the BWC is continuously but temporarily storing the most recent thirty (30) seconds of video (without audio) that is added to the beginning of a permanently stored video and audio recording when the BWC is activated to record.

BWCs are activated to record video & audio in the following manners:

• Manually by the law enforcement officer wearing the BWC when required or authorized by policy.
• When an officer draws their issued firearm from their duty belt holster (a signal device on the holster detects the firearm has been drawn and sends a wireless signal to activate BWC recording).
• When an officer arms, initiates an arc or pulls the trigger of their Axon Taser 7 (the Taser 7 sends a wireless signal to activate the BWC recording).
• When an officer activates the emergency lights in their police vehicle (a signal device in the vehicle sends a wireless signal to activate the BWC recording).

Officers are required to activate their Body Worn Camera (BWC) in the following circumstances:

• During calls for service, or other activity or encounters with community members that are investigative or enforcement related in nature.  This includes calls officers are dispatched to, traffic stops, arrests, searches, pursuits, prisoner & civilian transports, field interviews, suspicious situations, mental health interventions, documentation of evidence, etc.
• During any encounter with a community member that becomes confrontational.
• When operating a vehicle in emergency response mode (lights and siren activated).

If an officer is unable to immediately activate their BWC to record at the initiation of a call for service, encounter or other activity when they are otherwise required to activate BWC recording, the officer will be expected to activate their BWC at the first reasonable opportunity to do so.

Officers will stop and end the video and audio Body Worn Camera (BWC) recording in the following circumstances:

• When the event or encounter has fully concluded and there is no more investigative or enforcement action anticipated.
• When an officer leaves the scene of an event or encounter still in progress and anticipates no further involvement.
• When a supervisor has determined an officer is no longer engaged in an enforcement or investigative activity.
• When authorized by policy.

Officers are prohibited from activating (or must stop) their Body Worn Camera (BWC) in the following circumstances:

• When performing strip searches.
• When performing or interacting with other department personnel during routine administrative activities.
• During court proceedings, unless the officer is confronting a disorderly, violent or assaultive subject; is in anticipation of a potential use of force; or is directed to take enforcement action by an agent of the court.
• During clinical interventions by Crisis Response System clinicians and personnel. 
• In any circumstance not related to a legitimate law enforcement purpose.

Officers may use their discretion to activate, not activate or stop Body Worn Camera (BWC) video and audio recording in the following circumstances:

• When a victim, witness or other person wishes to make a statement or share information during a voluntary interaction, but refuses to do so while being recorded, or requests the BWC recording be stopped.
• When sensitive circumstances are present, such as when interviewing a victim of sexual assault.
• When recording would risk the safety of a confidential informant or undercover officer.
• When inside a medical facility, which includes hospitals and ambulances, to protect patients’ rights to privacy during medical or psychological evaluations or treatments. 
• When not otherwise prohibited by law or agency policy, officers may activate BWC video and audio recording in circumstances when they determine that doing so would be beneficial to the public interest.

The Anne Arundel County Police Department will retain Body Worn Camera (BWC) recordings for at least four (4) years.  BWC recordings that become “evidence” related to an investigation or complaint will be retained until the case is adjudicated.  After adjudication, the BWC recordings will be retained consistent with post adjudication retention periods, which depend on the type of case and disposition.  

Open homicide and sexual assault evidence is retained for 80 years.  All other open felony case evidence is retained for 10 years.

Accidental and unintentional BWC recording activations are reviewed and if the recording was not required by policy, the recording will be deleted after final review by the Office of Professional Standards.

Body Worn Camera (BWC) video and audio recordings are initially temporarily stored on the BWC itself. Officers will regularly place their BWC in a dock located at police stations and facilities.  When docked, the video and audio recordings are uploaded to a cloud-based secure digital evidence management system that is compliant with FBI Criminal Justice Information System standards.

Each BWC recording is categorized (e.g. Call For Service, Traffic Stop, Miscellaneous Subject Encounter, etc.).  BWC recordings are also titled to associate them with incidents in the Police Department’s computer aided dispatch system and reports written by officers.  

Officers do not have the ability to edit, delete or otherwise tamper with BWC recordings.  All BWC related activity (starting, stopping, turning on, turning off, viewing, exporting, etc.) is recorded as metadata and becomes part of an audit log.

The Annotated Code of Maryland Courts & Judicial Proceedings Article requires law enforcement officers to notify an individual they are being recorded, as soon as practical and safe.

Officers are not required to give subsequent notifications to other parties who may come into view of the video and audio recording after the first notification has been given.

Victims, witnesses and other persons who wish to make a statement or share information during a voluntary interaction, may request the officer to stop (or not start) the Body Worn Camera (BWC) video and audio recording.  

If you are the subject of an investigation, traffic stop, arrest, or other potentially adversarial encounter with a law enforcement officer, the officer is required by policy to record the interaction and will not be permitted to stop the recording at your request. 

The Anne Arundel County Police Department is sensitive to privacy concerns. Victims, witnesses and other persons who wish to make a statement or share information during a voluntary interaction, may request the officer to stop (or not start) the Body Worn Camera (BWC) video and audio recording.

The public release of BWC video and audio recordings is governed by the Maryland Public Information Act.  It may also be governed by Maryland Court Rules if the recordings are related to a criminal or civil complaint.  The Police Department has implemented a process to redact images and audio from BWC recordings in compliance with those laws.

Body Worn Camera (BWC) video and audio recordings are records of the Anne Arundel County Police Department and may also be evidence if they are related to an investigation or complaint.

Release of BWC recordings is governed by the Maryland Public Information Act and Maryland Court Rules related to discovery. Public requests to obtain copies of BWC recordings may be made by completing the online Public Information Request Form (click on “Police”).

See also, “Are all Body-Worn Camera recordings made available to the public?”

Not all Body Worn Camera (BWC) video and audio recordings are available for public release.

Body Worn Camera (BWC) video and audio recordings are records of the Anne Arundel County Police Department and may also be evidence if they are related to an investigation or complaint.

Prematurely releasing BWC recordings to the public can negatively impact fact finding during criminal investigations, prosecutions and during internal investigations.  Statements and testimony of witnesses and victims as well as the opinion of potential jurors can be improperly influenced by prematurely releasing recordings to the public.  Premature public release of recordings can lead to evidence (including BWC recordings) being suppressed and not allowed to be presented in court or during a hearing.

Additionally, BWC recordings may contain law enforcement interactions with members of the community which those individuals expect to be kept private.

Release of BWC recordings is governed by the Maryland Public Information Act and Maryland Court Rules related to discovery.  Public requests to obtain copies of BWC recordings may be made by completing the on-line Public Information Request Form.

No one, including system administrators, can edit or manipulate the original recording made on a Body Worn Camera (BWC).  There is no functionality on the camera itself that would allow this.  

Even after the recording is uploaded to the digital evidence management system, no one can edit or manipulate the original recording.  

When a BWC recording is released to the public or the courts, the original recording is duplicated for the purposes of redacting (by blurring or masking certain portions) images and sound to protect the privacy of uninvolved persons, to comply with the Maryland Public Information Act and/or Maryland Court Rules, and to still maintain the relevant parts of the recording.   The original BWC recording always remains in its original form, without redaction within the digital evidence management system.

There are no possible ways for an officer to delete a Body Worn Camera (BWC) recording.  

A small number of designated system administrators have the ability and authority, under very specific and certain circumstances, to delete a BWC recording from the digital evidence management system (DEMS).  As with all activity in the DEMS, an electronic audit log, that can not be tampered with, is kept to document the deletion.  

Deleting Body Worn Camera (BWC) recordings follow retention period policies.  Only certain individuals on the Police Department’s management team within the Central Records Section; and within the Office of Professional Standards have the ability within the digital evidence management system to delete BWC recordings. 
             
BWC recordings that are part of a criminal or internal investigation case are held indefinitely until after case adjudication and post-adjudication retention periods have expired.  At that point, the BWC recordings can only be manually deleted by those authorized individuals described above.

BWC recordings that have met the retention period times and have not been identified as being related to an open criminal or internal investigation case, will follow an automated deletion process within the digital evidence management system.    

See also, “How long are Body Worn Camera video and audio recordings retained?”

All officers were issued and trained in the use of body-worn cameras as of September 2021.