Proponents Of Legislation In Maryland Senate Say It Will Improve Body Camera Transparency
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- A bill up for discussion in the Maryland State Senate wants to change the standard for police body-worn cameras.
Maryland senators are now raising legislation they say will improve police transparency whenever body cameras are used.
It would require that police departments purchase body-worn cameras that automatically record and save two minutes of audio and video footage immediately prior to the officer activating the record button.
Angelo Consoli with the Fraternal Order of Police says currently, body cameras are continuously recording and already save 30 seconds of video even before the officer presses record.
"The 30-seconds is usually more than enough time," Consoli said.
He added that any more time could drive up storage costs and violate an officer's privacy.
"Right now, the statistics don't show that it's needed. I don't know of a single incident out there that people are pointing where people are saying we should go back two or three minutes to find out what happened," Consoli said.
This bill will now move onto a second reading in the Senate.
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