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Policy 425Santa Monica Police Department Santa Monica Police Department Policy Manual Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2022/12/05, All Rights Reserved. Published with permission by Santa Monica Police DepartmentPortable Audio/Video Recorders - 1Portable Audio/Video Recorders 425.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE Contemporary police departments increasingly utilize an array of audio/video technology to further the mission of their organizations. The Santa Monica Police Department is incorporating portable audio/video recording technology, in the form of body-worn cameras, into its inventory to provide supplement documentary evidence for criminal investigations, internal or administrative investigations, and to review police procedures and tactics. This policy provides the Department’s members, both sworn and civilian field and custody personnel, with guidance on the use of portable audio/video recording devices during their official duties. Portable audio/video recording devices include all recording systems, whether body- worn, hand-held or integrated into portable equipment. Members are to utilize these devices in accordance with the provisions of this policy to maximize the effectiveness of the audio/video documentation, to achieve operational objectives, and to ensure evidence integrity. This policy does not apply to interviews or interrogations conducted at any Santa Monica Police Department facility or authorized under cover operations utilizing wiretaps or concealed listening devices. 425.2 POLICY The Santa Monica Police Department may provide members with access to portable recorders, either audio or video or both, for use during the performance of their duties. The use of recorders is intended to enhance the mission of the Department by accurately capturing contacts between members of the Department and the public. 425.3 MEMBER PRIVACY EXPECTATION All recordings made by members on any Department-issued device at any time, and any recording made while acting in an official capacity for this Department, regardless of ownership of the device it was made on, shall remain the property of the Department. Members shall have no expectation of privacy or ownership interest in the content of these recordings. 425.4 MEMBER RESPONSIBILITIES Each member issued a Department-authorized portable/audio video recorder will be responsible for making sure that he/she is equipped with the recorder before going into service. It is the member’s responsibility to ensure the recorder is generally in good working order by verifying that the battery is fully charged, the visual display screen is functioning, and the microphone is not obstructed. Members shall not wear an audio/video recorder that is clearly damaged or otherwise is not functioning properly due to low battery charge, damage, malfunction or memory exceeding capacity. If the recorder is not in good working order or malfunctions at any time, the member shall promptly report the failure to his/her supervisor and obtain a functioning device as soon as Santa Monica Police Department Santa Monica Police Department Policy Manual Portable Audio/Video Recorders Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2022/12/05, All Rights Reserved. Published with permission by Santa Monica Police DepartmentPortable Audio/Video Recorders - 2practicable. Members shall report unresolved equipment malfunctions/problems to the System Administrator for replacement of the audio/video recorder. It is the responsibility of the member to position and securely attach the audio/video recorder to the front of his/her uniform or uniform equipment (as the primary location) to provide the best vantage point to record contacts with the public. Any member assigned to the field or jail shall set their body worn camera to standby or "buffering mode" before going into service and ensure the body worn camera is turned on for the duration of the member's shift, except during personal bathroom breaks, authorized breaks in the Public Safety Facility, or when the recorder needs to be downloaded or charged. At the end of his/her shift or other period of use or, if needed, during his/her shift, the member shall dock his/her issued audio/video recorder in the appropriate docking station to ensure the device’s storage capacity is not exceeded. An officer assigned to the Traffic Section’s Motorcycle Unit who operates a Department motorcycle shall dock his/her camera at the end of his/her shift and then take his/her assigned motorcycle home. It is the responsibility of the officer to pick up his/her camera as soon as practical at the beginning of his/her next shift/assignment. It is recognized that motorcycle officers may make enforcement stops while traveling to and from work which may result in those stops not being recorded on the portable audio/video recorder. Members shall document the existence of a recording in any report or other official record of the contact, including any instance where the recorder malfunctioned or the member deactivated the recording. Members shall include the reason for deactivation. 425.4.1 SUPERVISOR RESPONSIBILITIES Supervisors should take custody of a portable audio/video recording device as soon as practicable when the device may have captured an incident involving the use of force, an officer-involved shooting or death or other serious incident, and ensure the data is downloaded (Penal Code § 832.18). 425.5 CONFIDENTIALITY In accordance with current state law, no person may record a confidential communication without the consent of all parties; however, law enforcement officers are exempt from this requirement when acting within the scope of their authority (Penal Code § 632(a); Penal Code § 633). It is the responsibility of sworn and non-sworn members to abide by all applicable laws when it comes to recordings of a confidential nature. Sworn members are not required to obtain consent to record from a private person when: (a) In a public place. (b) In a location where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy (i.e. inside of a building or dwelling where