FY 19 Body Worn Camera Program

The Body Worn Camera Policy and Implementation program (BWC PIP) provides funding to limited public agencies (i.e., states, units of local government, (including tribal government, recognized by the Secretary of the Interior), combinations of such states or units, or any department, agency, or instrumentality of the foregoing), that perform criminal justice functions; and national and regional public and private entities, including for-profit (commercial) and nonprofit organizations (including tribal nonprofit or for-profit organizations), faith-based and community organizations, and institutions of higher education (including tribal institutions of higher education) that support initiatives to improve the functioning of the criminal justice system. For-profit organizations must agree to forgo any profit or management fee.

The BWC PIP, funded under the Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 2019 (P.L. 116-6), will support the implementation of body-worn camera programs in law enforcement agencies across the country. The intent of the program is to help agencies develop, implement, and assess their BWC program as one tool in a law enforcement agency’s comprehensive problem-solving approach to leverage the evidentiary value of BWC digital footage; enhance officer and citizen safety, promote mutual trust and civility between officers and the public; and build community trust. Elements of such an approach include: implementation of a BWC program developed in a planned and phased approach; collaboration that leverages partnerships with cross-agency criminal justice stakeholders including prosecutors and advocacy organizations; implementation of appropriate privacy policies; implementation of operational procedures and tracking mechanisms; training of officers, administrators, and associated agencies requiring access to digital media evidence; adoption of practices and deployment of BWC programs appropriately addressing operational requirements. CA/NCF