Prince William police to wear body cameras by fall

Prince William County police officers plan to be wearing body cameras by fall.

Chief Stephan Hudson told the Board of Supervisors his department was working through a series of procedural and legal hurdles to preparing his department for the deployment of body-worn cameras.

The past two years, the cameras have been at the center of discussions involving transparency among police officers and their interactions with the public, as they are meant to record every interaction and officer has for later review by department heads, courts, and eventually county residents.

The department is still fine-tuning what its procedures when residents ask to view police body camera footage Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

“FOIA presents challenge for all of us,” said Hudson.

While some departments are open to showing the videos, some fear the videos be an invasion of privacy for victims. Officers are called to homes on a variety of incidents on a regular basis, and the interior and exterior of people’s homes would be shown on the videos, and could be made available to the public.

Hudson said the evidence discovery phase in a court proceeding, where police are required to turn over all of its evidence to the defendant for review, is already “extensive and cumbersome.” Sifting through body-worn camera video could slow down the procedure even further.

Hudson is reviewing an option that could allow a bulk transfer of video to the defense without first reviewing the video.

Manassas Park police already use body cameras. Prince William County will be the largest police department in Virginia to use body cameras when they’re deployed later this year.

Prince William police began exploring the use of body cameras in 2013. Last year, the Board of Supervisors approved $3 million for the use of body cameras.

Officers will spend time this summer learning how to use the cameras, said Hudson.