Overview of Houston Police Department's Body Worn Cameras Program
The Houston Police Department initiated a pilot program to evaluate the use of body-worn cameras (BWCs) for front-line officers. The program aims to enhance accountability, reduce complaints, and provide additional evidence and training opportunities. Over 5.6 million BWC events have been recorded, with approximately 3.4 million video events stored. The department has purchased around 2,900 BWCs and plans to increase it to 4,500. The history of the program dates back to August 2012 when HPD decided to proceed with a pilot program of 100 BWCs. Various funding sources have supported the expansion of the program over the years, leading to the deployment of BWCs across different police divisions. HPD's BWC policy and deployment details are available for reference.
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BODY WORN CAMERAS BODY WORN CAMERAS CHIEF OF POLICE CHIEF OF POLICE ART ACEVEDO ART ACEVEDO Information Presented by: Assistant Chief James Jones Assistant Chief James Jones Special Investigations Command Deputy Director Mike Bell Deputy Director Mike Bell Office of Technology Services September 10, 2019 September 10, 2019 1
Description of Project BWC pilot program was initiated to evaluate use of BWC for front line officers Existing BWC research indicates that use of BWC increases accountability, reduces complaints, provides additional evidence and training opportunities Initial roll-out included all patrol and supervisory first responders, and crime reduction unit officers. Initially was to include all officers working uniformed extra employment Approximately 2,900 BWCs purchased, original intention was to purchase 4,500 BWCs Over 5.6 million BWC events have been recorded Currently have approximately 3.4 million video events stored 2
Description of Project WatchGuard was recently purchased by Motorola Currently 300 TB of data in the cloud, with any video older than 500 days automatically going to cloud storage Eventually, any video older than 180 days will be in cloud storage No person currently has the ability or the authority to delete video. It is an automated process that eliminates certain videos following established retention policies Tactical Operations and Narcotics Divisions recently received BWCs for warrant service, which will be expanded to include other investigative divisions in the near future HPD BWC Policy: http:// http://www.houstontx.gov/police/pdfs/Circular www.houstontx.gov/police/pdfs/Circular- -No 0324 0324- -069 069- -and and- -GO GO- -400 400- -28 28- -Creation Creation- -of of- -General Worn Worn- -Cameras.pdf Cameras.pdf No- -16 16- - General- -Order Order- -400 400- -28 28- -Body Body- - 3
History August 2012: HPD decided to proceed with a pilot program of 100 BWCs Early 2014: First evaluation of initial 100 BWCs conducted December 2014: Funding identified from various sources: Asset Forfeiture from HPD/DAO/State Grants January 2015: RFP for BWC November 2015: City Council approved contract for WatchGuard for the purchase of approximately 4500 BWCs April 2016: HPD deployed first WatchGuard BWCs to Central Division & Crime Reduction Unit (approximately 300) January 2018: Deployed BWC to newly formed North Belt Division, completing BWC deployment to all patrol stations 4
History April 2017: HPD deployed BWC to Eastside/Clear Lake Divisions using a trial kiosk check-out system with the next generation Vista-Wifi model BWCs July 2018: Completed conversions of all stations to BWC kiosk check-out February 2019: Implemented mandatory use of BWCs by all classified personnel at all Alcoholic Beverage Establishments for extra employment BWC project has a budget of $7,963,360 BWC spending total is $6,758,064 BWC balance of approximately $1.2 million BWC contract with WatchGuard had initial 3 year term, beginning December 2015, with 2 1-year extension options Final 1 year extension starting December 2019 5
Accountability BWC Audits being conducted by Risk Management Division, Supervisors and IPOB 6 http://www.houstontx.gov/police/body_cameras/
Next Generation of BWCs Battery: longer charge of 12-14 hours, replaceable/rechargeable by end-user, and low battery alerts CAD or other automated trigger mechanism, along with CAD/RMS integration Automated classification of BWC videos to simplify case development Regular hardware refreshes Real-time video streaming Automatic video, facial, and tracked object redaction, built into system or option for third-party integration, and bulk redaction Video analytics license plate, vehicle, and descriptor recognition BWC video upload over wireless connection New standard of video compression to save storage and transmission size limits Business continuity/disaster recovery capabilities, encompassing off-site storage (the cloud) 7
Challenges in Moving Forward Battery Life Automatic Triggers Providing videos to DA/open records/law enforcement agencies in timely fashion Linking BWC videos to specific incidents across time gaps and multiple divisions Securing necessary funds for RFP Leasing versus Purchasing BWCs Approximately $3 million in funding available at this time through a donation, with a $3 million grant application pending 8
