Why is body camera footage not public record? New Bern police chief explains

Six months after approving the budget for body cameras, New Bern has finally made police wearing the equipment a reality.

But, how useful will they be?

Especially since the footage recorded from the equipment cannot be released until a court order from a judge is given, said Chief Patrick Gallagher of New Bern Police Department.

Gallagher said the previous New Bern Chief, Toussaint Summers, pushed heavily for body cameras to be worn by the department.

"It was because the former chief had the foresight and vision to make a compelling business model to the Board of Aldermen and the city manager that the expenditure of this money was important," he said.

The budget was approved for about $190,000 worth of body cameras on May 25, 2021 for just one year of use. For the life of the program and years to come the cost of the equipment is in the millions, Gallagher said.

Not all police officers have access to the cameras as of now, but some officers have began wearing them this past week after completing training.

Here are a few questions Gallagher answered about the future of the body camera program for New Bern police.

How will body camera training go in order for officers to use them?

Gallagher said not only are body worn cameras becoming accessible to officers, but also a newer model taser will be implemented.

"So we are rolling in our staff to train half the day on the new taser and then training on the body worn camera," he said.

The employee has to become familiar with the equipment and how to utilize it, how to turn it off/on, how to charge it, upload videos from it, but they also have to be familiar with the body camera policy.

After the employee is familiar with both the taser and body worn camera, they are given the items in hopes they will utilize the equipment in accordance with the policy, Gallagher said.

The policy is located on the New Bern Police Department's website.

How much does the body camera program cost?

For one year, $190,000 worth of body cams was budgeted for the program.

"We anticipate by the end of the first year contract, we will have exhausted all of those monies," Gallagher said. "Currently we have about $20,000 left in our budget, but that's going to be quickly gobbled up."

He said the money will go to additional licenses and potentially one or two more body cameras.

"Eventually we ordered 91, but we did not include our parking enforcement staff which we are now including," Gallagher said. "Also our two animal control officers, and I will not carry a body worn camera and my command staff."

Patrol officers will first be equipped with the cameras, but eventually all of the staff including the chief will wear a body worn camera, he said.

Can the cameras be turned off by officers?

"No program has a 24/7 policy," Gallagher said. "It would be way too expensive."

Officers are required to activate their camera when they engage with a citizen officially, Gallagher said.

He said once the officer has the camera positioned on their body, the camera is technically capturing video, but they're set to buffer every two minutes.

This means the camera loops back two minutes, but the recording deletes unless the officer pushes the button on the camera to start recording. If the officer is doing their daily patrols, but no interaction with a citizen is made, the camera will not keep that recording.

An official recording is activated to be kept for reviewing once the officer receives a call for service or an arrest is made.

"If they weren't on an official call or an official action, we would not have that data," Gallagher said. "The more we capture, the more we have to have to pay for video storage."

Can a citizen request body cam footage?

Not easily and there is no guarantee a citizen will ever see the footage. As seen in recent high profile cases, body camera footage in North Carolina has to be released using a court order.

"It is a court process," Gallagher said.

In order to see a particular piece of footage that was captured, the requestee has to go before a judge to obtain a court order for the police department to release the visual evidence, Gallagher said.

That includes law enforcement, the public and the media.

How can body camera video get released to the public/media?

Gallagher said it depends on what the judge is compelling the government to do.

"If we receive a court order to release documents, we're going to follow the law," he said. "If a judge signs an order to compel me to do something then I'm going to do it."

Going to court is a costly and timely process for many citizens.

Gallagher said releasing the tape, if court ordered, would be the legal thing to do by providing the evidence upon court order request.

Has dash cam video footage ever been released to the public?

Footage of a serious incident has not been released in the past, Lt. Donald McInnis of NBPD said. He did say attorneys will ask for footage frequently with a judge order, but for cases such as a DWI.

"I get request from attorneys all the time and it's been signed off by a judge," McInnis said.

The Sun Journal asked for a copy of dash cam footage but McInnis said having the proper documentation signed by a judge is required.

Gallagher said the body camera and dash cam video, or in car system, are one in the same. This means they both work on the same computer platform and are linked together.

How is dash/body cam footage stored?

The original footage is saved on a hard drive that the dash cam or body worn camera is uploaded, Gallagher said. The video erases to making room for the next shift, unless the footage is evidentiary or someone was arrested.

If the video is linked to a criminal investigation because someone was arrested, the recording is not deleted .

"Let's hypothetically say that an officer is engaged in some official capacity, right out the chute and is constantly recording," Gallagher said. "Our cameras can capture up to 12 hours of constant video before it's full and it just can't hold anymore."

He said this circumstance is rare and he has never seen a situation where an officer ran out of space.

Rules on citizens videotaping police during an encounter?

"We don't have rules on that because we don't own that video," Gallagher said.

He said citizens have the right to be anywhere and decide to video tape whatever the person desire's.

Citizens can record on-duty police in public when someone is legally authorized to be there, the police activity is in plain view or the person is openly (not secretly) recording the officer, according to the findlaw.com website.

"If you capture a crime in progress, or you capture a police officer engaging in some malfeasance or doing something," Gallagher said. "You own that. That's yours. I have no control over that."

How do you think that this additional expense of body cameras will keep citizens safe?

Gallagher said the use of body cameras will implement better transparency for what officers undertake.

"Oftentimes we have citizens that believe that officers acted in ways that are either unconstitutional or unprofessional based on what other people have said and it's more difficult to address those when it's a he said she said situation," he said.

He said he also believes that body cameras will help diffuse police and civilian encounters.

"The body camera will change the behavior of hopefully at least two people, and that's the person in front of the camera, and that's the person behind," Gallagher said. "So when citizens and officers know that their actions are being recorded, hopefully that will defuse the situation in ways that will reduce the need for use of force."

He concluded by saying body worn cameras have proven to be valuable for the relationship between government and the citizens that are governed.

This article originally appeared on Sun Journal: New Bern Police Chief Patrick Gallagher talks body cameras in Q&A