Title: Lowell Correctional Institution Body Cameras Pilot Program

Summary: Creates Lowell Correctional Institution Body Cameras Pilot Program within DOC; requires that each correctional officer working at Lowell Correctional Institution wear body camera while acting within scope of his or her official duties; requires department to establish policies & procedures for proper use, maintenance, & storage of such body cameras & data recorded by such body cameras; requires department to provide training; requires audio & video data recorded by such cameras to be maintained in accordance with public records laws; requires department to submit annual reports; provides for expiration of pilot program.

Full Text:
An act relating to the Lowell Correctional Institution Body Cameras Pilot Program; creating s. 944.145, F.S.; creating the Lowell Correctional Institution Body Cameras Pilot Program within the Department of Corrections; providing the purpose of the pilot program; defining terms; requiring that each correctional officer working at the Lowell Correctional Institution wear a body camera while acting within the scope of his or her official duties; requiring the department to establish policies and procedures for the proper use, maintenance, and storage of such body cameras and data recorded by such body cameras; providing minimum requirements for such policies and pro cedures; requiring the department to provide training for the wear, use, maintenance, and storage of body cameras; requiring the audio and video data recorded by such cameras to be maintained in accordance with public records laws; requiring the department to submit annual reports beginning on a certain date; providing report requirements; providing for expiration of the pilot program; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: HB 2021 Section 1. Section 944.1 45, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 944.145 Lowell Correctional Institution Body Cameras Pilot Program.-(1) The Lowell Correctional Institution Body Cameras Pilot Program is created within the department for years. The purpose of the pilot pro gram is to ensure safety and provide accountability for each person in the institution. (2) As used in this section, the term: (a) "Body camera" means a portable electronic recording device that is worn on a correctional officer's person and that records audio and video data of the officer's prisoner-related encounters and activities. (b) "Correctional officer" has the same meaning as in s. 943.10(2). (3) Each correctional officer working at the Lowell Correctional Institution shall wear a body came ra while acting within the scope of his or her official duties. The department shall establish policies and procedures addressing the proper use, maintenance, and storage of such body cameras and the data recorded by such body cameras. The policies and pro cedures must, at a minimum, include all of the following: (a) General guidelines for the proper use, maintenance, and storage of body cameras. HB 2021 (b) Any limitations on a correctional officer's use of the body cameras. (c) Any limitations on prisoner-related encounters and activities in which correctional officers are authorized to wear body cameras. (d) A provision allowing a correctional officer using a body camera to review the recorded footage from the body camera, upon his or her own initiative or request, before writing a report or providing a statement regarding any event arising within the scope of his or her official duties. Any such provision may not apply to an officer's inherent duty to immediately disclose information necessary to secure an active crime scene or to identify suspects or witnesses. (e) General guidelines for the proper storage, retention, and release of audio and video data recorded by body cameras. (4) The department shall: (a) Ensure that all personnel at the Lowell Correctional Institution who wear, use, maintain, or store body cameras are trained in the department's policies and procedures concerning the body cameras. (b) Ensure that all personnel at the Lowell Correcti onal Institution who use, maintain, store, or release audio or video data recorded by body cameras are trained in the department's policies and procedures. (c) Retain audio and video data recorded by body cameras HB 2021 in accordance with the requirements of s. 119.021, except as otherwise provided by law. (d) Perform a periodic review of actual agency body camera practices to ensure conformity with the agency's policies and procedures. (5) Beginning on June 30, 2022, and annually thereafter, the department shall submit a report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, the Minority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives on the operation of the program during the previous year. The report must include, at a minimum, findings based on the review of incidents at the Lowell Correctional Institution and the helpfulness of the body cameras worn by corrections officers, proposals on changes to existing policies and procedures, an dany other information that the department deems important in furthering the purpose of the pilot program. (6) This section expires June 30, 2024. Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.