Implementing a Body Worn Camera Program to Increase Transparency, Promote Trust, and Protect Civil Rights and Victims

The City of Upper Arlington is a large suburban city located on the northwest side of the Columbus metropolitan area. In March of 2020, Upper Arlington Police Chief Steven Farmer committed to the implementation of a new body-worn camera (BWC) program by the Upper Arlington Police Division. This commitment was made to provide transparency to police operations, promote accountability, improve evidentiary effectiveness and the adjudication of cases, enhance officer and citizen safety, to protect civil rights, and support victims of crime.  

The Upper Arlington Police Division has already taken significant steps to plan for a BWC program, including extensive research on equipment, data management, and policies. Additionally, the Division has solicited community feedback and input as evidenced by two community meetings. We have also received broad-based support for this initiative from City Management, the City Attorney, and the Fraternal Order of Police.

The Division’s goals for this plan include:

Deploy forty-five body-worn cameras to members of the Upper Arlington Police Division who have daily citizen interactions resulting from their patrol activities and assignments.
Ensure high quality citizen interactions through training and policy development that promote legitimacy, trust and transparency, and fairness of procedural justice.
Ensure administrative and management integrity of all body-worn camera footage to make certain that identification, retention, and accessibility is maintained for all Division interactions, arrests, investigations, and conduct of officers.
Implement strong policies to ensure body-worn cameras are being used appropriately and within the parameters of established guidelines, to include the promotion of civil rights along with supporting crime victims.
Establish a long term body-worn camera program that remains technologically current and financially sustainable.

The Upper Arlington Police Division has been successful in implementing several major projects and initiatives in the past and after consultation with multiple agencies who have previously implemented body-worn cameras the Division believes it can be successful in this implementation as well.

The Division’s deliverables for this program include:

Number of officers within the Division who wear BWCs.
Percent of officers trained on BWC policies and procedures to include usage, analysis, and management.
Percent change in the number of citizen-officer complaints.
Percent change in the number of substantiated citizen-officer complaints.
Percent change in the number of use of force reports filed.

The implementation of this program will produce positive outcomes for the citizens that are served by the Upper Arlington Police Division.