Press Call Monday: Scorecard Evaluates Safeguards for Body Camera Programs in 25 Police Departments

Media 11.6,15

WASHINGTON – On Monday, November 9 at 11:00 a.m. ET, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and Upturn will host a press call briefing to release a new scorecard evaluating the civil rights safeguards of body-worn camera policies being used by the country’s largest police departments that have camera programs. The scorecard uses eight criteria derived from the Civil Rights Principles on Body Worn Cameras signed by a broad coalition of civil rights, privacy, and media rights groups in May 2015.

The scorecard examines the nation’s largest police departments with body-worn camera programs: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Houston, Washington, D.C., Dallas, Phoenix, Baltimore, Miami-Dade, Las Vegas, Detroit, Memphis, Milwaukee, San Antonio, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Austin. It also examines additional departments that have made news for police violence, including Ferguson, MO and Cleveland; have received a significant amount of federal funding for programs like Seattle, New Orleans, and Albuquerque; or have one or more policies that show particular promise, like Oakland and Parker, CO.

The scorecard evaluates whether each department:

·         Makes its policy publicly and readily available;

·         Limits officer discretion on when to record;

·         Addresses personal privacy concerns;

·         Prohibits officer pre-report viewing;

·         Limits retention of footage;

·         Protects footage against tampering and misuse;

·         Makes footage available to individuals filing complaints; and

·         Limits the use of biometric technologies.

To receive an embargoed copy of the scorecard in advance of the call, RSVP to [email protected].

WHEN: Monday, November 9 at 11:00 a.m. ET

WHO:

·         Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

·         Sakira Cook, policy counsel at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

·         Harlan Yu, principal at Upturn

DIAL-IN INFORMATION: Dial-in: 877.888.4294. Verbal Passcode: “Camera.” RSVP to [email protected] to request an embargoed copy of the scorecard.

###