Salt Lake City Code § 2.10.200 USE OF BODY-WORN CAMERAS
2.10.200: USE OF BODY-WORN CAMERAS:
A. Definitions.
1. "Body-worn camera" means a video recording device that is carried by, or worn on the body of, a law enforcement officer and that is capable of recording the operations of the officer.
"Body-worn camera" does not include a dashboard mounted camera or a camera intended to record clandestine investigation activities.
2. "Officer involved critical incident" means any of the items enumerated in Utah Code 76-2-408 and its successor provisions, and only for the purposes of this ordinance (and not for any purposes related to activating an officer involved critical incident protocol with outside agencies) will, at a minimum, include the following:
a. An officer's use of deadly force;
b. An officer's use of a dangerous weapon, which may include a police canine, against a person that causes injury to any person;
c. Death or serious bodily injury to any person, other than the officer, resulting from an officer's:
(1) Use of a motor vehicle while the officer is on duty; or
(2) Use of a government vehicle while the officer is off duty;
d. The death of a person who is in custody, but excluding a death that is the result of disease, natural causes, or conditions that have been medically diagnosed prior to the person's death; or
e. The death of or serious bodily injury to a person not in custody, other than an officer, resulting from an officer's attempt to prevent a person's escape from custody, to make an arrest, or otherwise to gain physical control of a person.
B. Mandatory Use Of Body-Worn Cameras:
1. With the exception of the members of the Salt Lake City Police Department who have positions or job duties that do not warrant wearing a body-worn camera, all officers shall wear a body-worn camera when on duty. Under Utah law an officer must activate a body-worn camera prior to any law enforcement encounter or as soon as reasonably possible. An officer shall not de-activate a body-worn camera or mute the sound recording without first stating, on the camera recording, the reason for deactivating the body-worn camera or muting the sound. An officer will not de-activate or mute a body-worn camera until the end of the law enforcement encounter and upon returning to the officer's vehicle, unless the officer provides a reason on the camera recording for earlier de-activation or muting of the body-worn camera.
2. The police department will keep a record of all instances in which a body-worn camera is de-activated, the sound is muted, or when an officer fails to activate a body-worn camera prior to a law enforcement encounter, including the name of the officer and the reason for de-activation, muting, or failing to activate and such record will be provided to the Mayor and City Council on a quarterly basis.
C. Internal City Review of Body-Worn Camera Protocol: Officer Involved Critical Incident:
1. Within twenty four (24) hours after the occurrence of any officer involved critical incident, the Chief of Police shall notify the City Attorney, the Council Chair, the Mayor, and the Mayor's Chief of Staff, of the facts of the officer involved critical incident.
2. Not more than five days after the officer involved critical incident, the Mayor, City Council Members and City Attorney will be provided links through secure file share to all unedited body-worn camera footage from all officers at the incident and any 911 calls related to the incident.
3. The Council may, at its discretion call for a closed session to be briefed on the facts and legal issues surrounding the officer involved critical incident.
4. For four (4) years after the officer involved critical incident, the Police Department and the City Recorder will, within five business days of receipt of such a request, notify the City Attorney and Mayor's Office, and City Council of any GRAMA request pertaining to body-worn camera footage of an officer involved critical incident
5. For four (4) years after the officer involved critical incident, the City Attorney will, within five business days of receipt, notify the City Council and Mayor's Office of any notice of claim received in connection with an officer involved critical incident.
D. Public Review Of Body-Worn Camera Protocol: Officer Involved Critical Incident:
1. The public is presumed to have a strong interest in accessing body-worn camera recordings of officer involved critical incidents. For this reason, no later than ten business days after the officer involved critical incident, subject to section 3(b) and (c) herein, the unedited full-length body-worn camera recording will be classified as a public record, barring any unusual or unforeseen circumstances, which may include an inability to complete investigative interviews with key witnesses.
2. Once the record has been classified as public, the City will release any body-worn camera recordings of officer involved critical incidents involving Salt Lake City Police Department officers. The recordings may be subject to redaction or segregation of any private, controlled or protected images or sounds contained on the recordings.
3. Some images from a body-worn camera might be offensive or violate an individual's privacy and should not be disclosed, unless requested by the family of the individual involved with the encounter with law enforcement officers. These offensive/violative images include, but are not limited to: images inside a private residence, medical and mental health care treatment and facilities, intimate images, images of minors, images showing the moment an individual deceases or the individual's body the moment after deceasing, domestic violence or sexual assault victims or witnesses, and domestic violence or sexual assault facilities and shelters. Such images constitute an unwarranted invasion on personal privacy. If a video containing those images is requested, it will be disclosed only if the content is of legitimate interest to the public, and content containing the specific images that are presumed highly offensive will be redacted.
4. Before publicly releasing a body-worn camera recording of an officer-involved critical incident that results in the death of an individual, the Police Department will:
a. Consult with an organization with expertise in trauma and grief on best practices for creating an opportunity for the victim or the decedent's next of kin to view the body-worn camera recording in advance of its release;
b. Notify the victim or the decedent's next of kin of its impending release, including the date when it will be released; and
c. Offer the victim or the decedent's next of kin the opportunity to view the body-worn camera recording in advance of its release, and if the next of kin wish to so view the body-worn camera recording, facilitate its viewing.
5. Body-worn camera footage will not be released to the public for any purpose other than to comply with this ordinance, unless pursuant to a valid GRAMA request, or for valid law enforcement purposes which must be approved by the Chief of Police.
E. Audits: In order to ensure that members of the Salt Lake City Police Department are complying with state law, City Code, and Police Department policy, a qualified individual outside of the Salt Lake City Police Department designated by the Mayor shall randomly review at least five body-worn camera recordings at least once a month. Any findings of material non-compliance with state law, City Code and Police Department policy will be referred to the Chief of Police, the City Attorney, the Council Chair, the Mayor and the Mayor's Chief of Staff.
F. Officer Use Of Body-Worn Camera Recordings:
1. Officers may not use personal recording cameras at any time while on duty.
2. Officers may not use recordings from body-worn cameras for personal use, and may not upload recordings from body-worn cameras onto public and social media websites.
3. Officers may not alter or edit any body-worn camera footage without express permission from either the Chief of Police or the City Attorney. (Ord. 54-20, 2020)