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Senate Bill 158 |
Senate Author: West et al. |
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Effective: 9-1-15 |
House Sponsor: Fletcher et al. |
Senate Bill 158 amends the Occupations Code to require a law enforcement agency that receives a grant for the provision of body worn cameras for its peace officers, or that otherwise operates a body worn camera program, to adopt a policy for the use of body worn cameras. The bill sets out certain guidelines and other provisions to be included in such a policy and requires an agency operating a program before the bill's effective date to submit any existing agency policy regarding the use of body worn cameras to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) to determine whether the policy complies with the bill's provisions. The bill specifies that training must be provided before an agency may operate a body worn camera program and requires TCOLE, in consultation with the Department of Public Safety, the Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas, the W. W. Caruth Jr. Police Institute at Dallas, and the Texas Police Chiefs Association, to develop or approve a curriculum for such a training program.
In addition, the bill requires the office of the governor to create and implement a grant program under which a grant to defray the cost of implementing a body worn camera program and equipping peace officers with cameras may be awarded to certain law enforcement agencies that employ officers who are engaged in traffic or highway patrol or otherwise regularly detain or stop motor vehicles or are primary responders who respond directly to calls for assistance from the public. The bill also authorizes a law enforcement agency to enter into an interagency or interlocal contract to receive body worn camera services and have the identified operations performed through a program established by the Department of Information Resources.
Among other provisions, the bill provides for the recording of interactions with the public by a peace officer equipped with a body worn camera, peace officer use of personal equipment, the use of body worn camera recordings as evidence, the release of information recorded by a body worn camera, and a proposed fee, set by the attorney general, to be charged to members of the public for a copy of information recorded by a body worn camera. The bill makes it a misdemeanor offense for an employee of a law enforcement agency to release a recording created by a body worn camera without the permission of the applicable law enforcement agency.