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General Order B -54 Page 1 of 10 Body -Worn Cameras TEMPLE TERRACE POLICE DEPARTMENT GENERAL ORDER EFFECTIVE DATE : 04/07 /2015 FILE INDEX NO. : B-54 SUBJECT: BODY -WORN CAMERAS (BWC) INDEX AS: SAME AS ABOVE RESCINDS: REVISES: DATE REVISED : 10/04/2024 DISTRIBUTION : ALL SWOR N MEMBERS , RECORDS, CRIME SCENE/EVIDENCE COORDINATOR , DIGITAL EVIDENCE TECHNICIAN I. PURPOSE: The purpose of this policy is to provide the designated department personnel with guidelines for the use, management, storage, and retrieval of audio -visual media recorded by body -worn camera systems. The use of body -worn cameras may increase the ability of users to effectively enforce the law, obtain evidence for criminal prosecutions, protect department personnel from false allegations of misconduct, document in teractions with the public, increase departmental transparency , and improve conduct by all parties during police/public interactions. BWC systems are not a substitute for the sworn member ’s reasonable belief and perception and cannot account for the physi ological and psychological responses during critical incidents, such as visual tunneling and auditory exclusion , that may be experienced in high - stress situations . BWC recording systems should not be viewed as the sole measure of truth or as the totality o f the circumstances . Such systems and their inherent limitations only capture video and audio evidence from the camera’s physical position on the scene and not necessarily from the user’s overall perspective . II. SCOPE: All sworn members Crime Scene/Evidence Coordinator (CS/EC) Digital Evidence Technician (D.E.T.) III. DISCUSSION: A. Body worn camera (BWC) recordings shall be utilized to document law enforcement interactions with the public by capturing evidence of the actions, conditions, and statements of all in volved parties. B. The Temple Terrace Police Department has adopted the use of BWCs to accomplish the following objectives: 1. To enhance officer safety. General Order B -54 Page 2 of 10 Body -Worn Cameras 2. To enhance the public trust by preserving factual representations of officer -citizen interactions in the fo rm of video and audio recordings. 3. To accurately document statements and events during an incident. 4. To enhance the officer’s ability to document and review statements and actions for both internal reporting requirements and courtroom preparation/presentatio n. 5. To preserve visual and audio information for use in current and future investigations. 6. To provide an impartial measurement for self -critique and field evaluation during officer training. IV. DEFINITIONS: 1. Activate or Star t - the BWC has entered recording mo de either through physical activation by pressing the event button two times or by way of automatic activation . 2. Automatic Activation - the BWC has entered recording mode due to a predesigned trigger event such as drawing of the firearm, turning on lights a nd sirens, or activating the device . 3. Axon Respond+ - Axon’s real -time situational awareness technology. Location services are activated if the camera is on and recording, or during pre -event buffer. When a livestream is started, the user is notified throug h an icon display, audio prompt, haptic feedback, and LED color change on AB4 . 4. Deactivate or Stop - end a BWC capture in recording mode and return the camera to active mode . 5. Digital Evidence - any probative information stored or transmitted in digital for m that a party to a court case may use at trial and information stored or transmitted in binary form that may be relied on in court. These items include photographs, text messages, videos, and other digitally created data . 6. Event Button - the button used to manually start and stop a recording. (AB4 presently requires the event button to be double pressed to start a recording and held for 3 seconds to stop a recording and return to active mode .) 7. False Signal Activation - allows a user to report a signal event and the associated recording as a false detection. There is also an option to automatically add a category to the false detection recording. If the camera is in buffering mode and a signal event occurs, the camera will begin recording. The message “Press select to cancel recording” , will display for 10 seconds. Press the select button and the signal activation will change to “Reported false” and the camera will end the recording and return to Buffering Mode. If the select button is not pressed within 10 se conds, the message is removed, and the camera will continue recording . 8. Markers - a video indicator or mark made at a specific time in a BWC recording. Markers can be added to a video while in recording mode and are useful when a video is replayed to docume nt and locate a specific event. (AB4 allows a marker by pressing and releasing the select button within 1-second while in the recording mode .) 9. Mute Mode - the BWC audio recording has been disabled while the camera is actively recording. To mute, press and hold the select button. The microphone off icon will be shown. To unmute, release the select button . 10. Off - to power off the body -worn camera unit. (Axon Body 4/AB4 requires pressing and holding