Portland Police Bureau Body Worn Camera Pilot Program

The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) is the largest police agency in the State of Oregon and serves a population of over 650,000 across three counties. PPB’s mission is to reduce crime and the fear of crime by working with the community to preserve life, maintain human rights, protect property, and promote individual responsibility and community commitment. To fulfill this mission, the bureau has 4 specific goals: Focus efforts on repeat calls for service and chronic offenders; enhance the community and police relationship; develop and encourage personnel; and continuously improve work processes. To both accomplish these goals and to fulfill its mission, following a successful Body Worn Camera (BWC) Pilot Program, PPB decided to implement a city-wide program that will include the acquisition of 1,117 cameras and associated peripherals, substantial training, regular engagement with internal and external stakeholders, and the continued development of support personnel and standard practices to ensure BWC records requests are processed correctly and in a timely fashion. In addition to building trust with local communities through increased transparency, the BWC footage will also be integral in ensuring officer and community safety. The size and complexity of the City of Portland make innovative programs like BWC projects important developments across the entire jurisdiction. PPB has long-monitored other jurisdictions’ BWC programs and taken a wholistic approach to developing a comprehensive BWC program and policy. To ensure the program is comprehensive and managed effectively, the BWC team will work with internal external stakeholders like the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, the Portland Police Association, City Council, the City Attorney’s Office, mental health providers, victim advocates, and community members to ensure the implementation plan is collaborative. The full implementation of a BWC program, and its success, will draw heavily on the lessons learned from the successful Pilot Program and will require PPB to continue to work to ensure transparency.