I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7156 
To require uniformed Federal police officers to wear body cameras and 
have dashboard cameras in marked vehicles. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 16, 2018 
Ms. NORTON (for herself and Mr. BEYER) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To require uniformed Federal police officers to wear body 
cameras and have dashboard cameras in marked vehicles. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Police Camera 
and Accountability Act of 2018’’. 
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SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL UNIFORMED OFFI-
CERS REGARDING THE USE OF BODY CAM-
ERAS. 
(a) Uniformed officers with the authority to conduct 
searches and make arrests shall wear a body camera. Such 
body cameras shall— 
(1) have a field of view at least as broad as the 
officer’s vision; and 
(2) be worn in a manner that maximizes the 
camera’s ability to capture video footage of the offi-
cer’s activities. 
(b) Both the video and audio recording functions of 
the body camera shall be activated whenever a uniformed 
officer is responding to a call for service or at the initiation 
of any other law enforcement or investigative encounter 
between a uniformed officer and a member of the public, 
except that when an immediate threat to the officer’s life 
or safety makes activating the camera impossible or dan-
gerous, the officer shall activate the camera at the first 
reasonable opportunity to do so. The body camera shall 
not be deactivated until the encounter has fully concluded 
and the uniformed officer leaves the scene. 
(c) A uniformed officer who is wearing a body camera 
shall notify any subject of the recording that he or she 
is being recorded by a body camera as close to the incep-
tion of the encounter as is reasonably possible. 
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of the officer’s body camera. If the person seeking 
to remain anonymous responds affirmatively, the 
uniformed officer shall immediately discontinue use 
of the body camera. 
(e) All law enforcement offers to discontinue the use 
of a body camera made pursuant to subsection (d), and 
the responses thereto, shall be recorded by the body cam-
era prior to discontinuing use of the body camera. 
(f) Body cameras shall not be used to gather intel-
ligence information based on First Amendment protected 
speech, associations, or religion, or to record activity that 
is unrelated to a response to a call for service or a law 
enforcement or investigative encounter between a law en-
forcement officer and a member of the public, and shall 
not be equipped with or subjected to any real time facial 
recognition technologies. 
(g) Uniformed officers shall not activate a body cam-
era while on the grounds of any public, private or paro-
chial elementary or secondary school, except when re-
sponding to an imminent threat to life or health. 
(h) Body camera video footage shall be retained by 
the law enforcement agency that employs the officer whose 
camera captured the footage, or an authorized agent 
thereof, for 6 months after the date it was recorded, after 
which time such footage shall be permanently deleted. 
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(1) During the 6-month retention period, the 
following persons shall have the right to inspect the 
body camera footage: 
(A) Any person who is a subject of body 
camera video footage, and their designated legal 
counsel. 
(B) A parent of a minor subject of body 
camera video footage, and their designated legal 
counsel. 
(C) The spouse, next of kin or legally au-
thorized designee of a deceased subject of body 
camera video footage, and their designated legal 
counsel. 
(D) A uniformed officer whose body cam-
era recorded the video footage, and their des-
ignated legal counsel, subject to the limitations 
and restrictions in this Act. 
(E) The superior officer of a uniformed of-
ficer whose body camera recorded the video 
footage, subject to the limitations and restric-
tions in this Act. 
(F) Any defense counsel who claims, pur-
suant to a written affidavit, to have a reason-
able basis for believing a video may contain evi-
dence that exculpates a client. 
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(2) The right to inspect subject to subsection 
(i)(1) shall not include the right to possess a copy 
of the body camera video footage, unless the release 
of the body camera footage is otherwise authorized 
by this Act or by another applicable law. 
(3) When a body camera fails to capture some 
or all of the audio or video of an incident due to 
malfunction, displacement of camera, or any other 
cause, any audio or video footage that is captured 
shall be treated the same as any other body camera 
audio or video footage under the law. 
(i) Notwithstanding the retention and deletion re-
quirements in subsection (h): 
(1) Video footage shall be automatically re-
tained for no less than 3 years if the video footage 
captures an interaction or event involving— 
(A) any use of force; or 
(B) an encounter about which a complaint 
has been registered by a subject of the video 
footage. 
(2) Body camera video footage shall also be re-
tained for no less than 3 years if a longer retention 
period is voluntarily requested by— 
(A) the uniformed officer whose body cam-
era recorded the video footage, if that officer 
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reasonably asserts the video footage has evi-
dentiary or exculpatory value in an ongoing in-
vestigation; 
(B) any uniformed officer who is a subject 
of the video footage, if that officer reasonably 
asserts the video footage has evidentiary or ex-
culpatory value; 
(C) any superior officer of a uniformed of-
ficer whose body camera recorded the video 
footage or who is a subject of the video footage, 
if that superior officer reasonably asserts the 
video footage has evidentiary or exculpatory 
value; 
(D) any uniformed officer, if the video 
footage is being retained solely and exclusively 
for police training purposes; 
(E) any member of the public who is a 
subject of the video footage; 
(F) any parent or legal guardian of a 
minor who is a subject of the video footage; or 
(G) a deceased subject’s spouse, next of 
kin, or legally authorized designee. 
(j) To effectuate subsections (i)(2)(E), (i)(2)(F), and 
(i)(2)(G), any member of the public who is a subject of 
video footage, the parent or legal guardian of a minor who 
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is a subject of the video footage, or a deceased subject’s 
next of kin or legally authorized designee, shall be per-
mitted to review the specific video footage in question in 
order to make a determination as to whether they will vol-
untarily request it be subjected to a 3-year retention pe-
riod. 
(k) All video footage of an interaction or event cap-
tured by a body camera, if that interaction or event is 
identified with reasonable specificity and requested by a 
member of the public, shall be provided to the person or 
entity making the request in accordance with the proce-
dures for requesting and providing government records set 
forth in the section 552a of title 5, United States Code. 
(1) Notwithstanding the public release require-
ments in this subsection, the following categories of 
video footage shall not be released to the public in 
the absence of express written permission from the 
non-law enforcement subjects of the video footage— 
(A) video footage not subject to a min-
imum 3-year retention period pursuant to sub-
section (i); and 
(B) video footage that is subject to a min-
imum 3-year retention period solely and exclu-
sively pursuant to subsection (i)(1)(B) or (i)(2). 
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(2) Notwithstanding any time periods estab-
lished for acknowledging and responding to records 
requests in section 552a of title 5, United States 
Code, responses to requests for video footage that is 
subject to a minimum 3-year retention period pursu-
ant to subsection (i)(1)(A), where a subject of the 
video footage is recorded being killed, shot by a fire-
arm, or grievously injured, shall be prioritized and 
the requested video footage shall be provided as ex-
peditiously as possible, but in no circumstances later 
than 5 days following receipt of the request. 
(3) Whenever doing so is necessary to protect 
personal privacy, the right to a fair trial, the iden-
tity of a confidential source or crime victim, or the 
life or physical safety of any person appearing in 
video footage, redaction technology may be used to 
obscure the face and other personally identifying 
characteristics of that person, including the tone of 
the person’s voice, provided the redaction does not 
interfere with a viewer’s ability to fully, completely, 
and accurately comprehend the events captured on 
the video footage. The following apply to such 
redactions: 
(A) When redaction is performed on video 
footage pursuant to this paragraph, an uned-
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ited, original version of the video footage shall 
be retained pursuant to the requirements of 
subsections (h) and (i). 
(B) Except pursuant to the rules for the 
redaction of video footage set forth in this sub-
section or where it is otherwise expressly au-
thorized by this Act, no other editing or alter-
ation of video footage, including a reduction of 
the video footage’s resolution, shall be per-
mitted. 
(4) The provisions governing the production of 
body camera video footage to the public in this Act 
shall take precedence over all other State and local 
laws, rules, and regulations to the contrary. 
(l) Body camera video footage may not be withheld 
from the public on the basis that it is an investigatory 
record or was compiled for law enforcement purposes 
where any person under investigation or whose conduct 
is under review is a police officer or other law enforcement 
employee and the video footage relates to that person’s 
on-the-job conduct. 
(m) Any video footage retained beyond 6 months sole-
ly and exclusively pursuant to subsection (i)(2)(D) shall 
not be admissible as evidence in any criminal or civil legal 
or administrative proceeding. 
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(n) No government agency or official, or law enforce-
ment agency, officer, or official may publicly disclose, re-
lease, or share body camera video footage unless— 
(1) doing so is expressly authorized pursuant to 
this Act or another applicable law; or 
(2) the video footage is subject to public release 
pursuant to subsection (k), and not exempted from 
public release pursuant to subsection (k)(1). 
(o) No uniformed officer shall review or receive an 
accounting of any body camera video footage that is sub-
ject to a minimum 3-year retention period pursuant to 
subsection (i)(1) prior to completing any required initial 
reports, statements, and interviews regarding the recorded 
event, unless doing so is necessary, while in the field, to 
address an immediate threat to life or safety. 
(p) Video footage may not be— 
(1) in the case of footage that is not subject to 
a minimum 3-year retention period, viewed by any 
superior officer of a uniformed officer whose body 
camera recorded the footage absent a specific allega-
tion of misconduct; or 
(2) subjected to facial recognition or any other 
form of automated analysis or analytics of any kind, 
unless— 
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(A) a judicial warrant providing authoriza-
tion is obtained; 
(B) the judicial warrant specifies the pre-
cise video recording to which the authorization 
applies; and 
(C) the authorizing court finds there is 
probable cause to believe that the requested use 
of facial recognition is relevant to an ongoing 
criminal investigation. 
(q) Video footage shall not be divulged or used by 
any law enforcement agency for any commercial or other 
non-law enforcement purpose. 
(r) Where a law enforcement agency authorizes a 
third party to act as its agent in maintaining body camera 
footage, the agent shall not be permitted to independently 
access, view, or alter any video footage, except to delete 
videos as required by law or agency retention policies. 
(s) If any uniformed officer, employee, or agent fails 
to adhere to the recording or retention requirements con-
tained in this Act, intentionally interfere with a body cam-
era’s ability to accurately capture video footage, or other-
wise manipulate the video footage captured by a body cam-
era during or after its operation— 
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(1) appropriate disciplinary action shall be 
taken against the individual officer, employee or 
agent; 
(2) a rebuttable evidentiary presumption shall 
be adopted in favor of criminal defendants who rea-
sonably assert that exculpatory evidence was de-
stroyed or not captured; and 
(3) a rebuttable evidentiary presumption shall 
be adopted on behalf of civil plaintiffs suing the gov-
ernment, a law enforcement agency and/or uni-
formed officers for damages based on police mis-
conduct who reasonably assert that evidence sup-
porting their claim was destroyed or not captured. 
(t) The disciplinary action requirement and rebutta-
ble presumptions in subsection (s) may be overcome by 
contrary evidence or proof of exigent circumstances that 
made compliance impossible. 
(u) In the case that a law enforcement officer 
equipped with a body camera is involved in, a witness to, 
or within viewable sight range of either the use of force 
by another law enforcement officer that results in a death, 
the use of force by another law enforcement officer, during 
which the discharge of a firearm results in an injury, or 
the conduct of another law enforcement officer that be-
comes the subject of a criminal investigation— 
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(1) the law enforcement agency that employs 
the law enforcement officer, or the agency or depart-
ment conducting the related criminal investigation, 
as appropriate, shall promptly take possession of the 
body camera, and shall maintain such camera, and 
any data on such camera, in accordance with the ap-
plicable rules governing the preservation of evidence; 
(2) a copy of the data on such body camera 
shall be made in accordance with prevailing forensic 
standards for data collection and reproduction; and 
(3) such copied data shall be made available to 
the public in accordance with subsection (l). 
(v) Any body camera video footage recorded in con-
travention of this Act or any other applicable law may not 
be offered as evidence by any government entity, agency, 
department, prosecutorial office, or any other subdivision 
thereof in any criminal or civil action or proceeding 
against any member of the public. 
(w) Any law enforcement policy or other guidance re-
garding body cameras, their use, or the video footage 
therefrom that is adopted by a Federal agency or depart-
ment, shall be made publicly available on that agency’s 
website. 
(x) Nothing in this Act shall be read to contravene 
any laws governing the maintenance, production, and de-
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