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Body Camera Information

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body camera on glasses The San Jose Police Department has been at the forefront of the adoption of Body Worn Cameras and ensuring that their use and implementation best serves officers as well as the community. All San Jose Police Department sworn personnel were outfitted with Body Worn Cameras as of November 2016 and have all received extensive training on their use as well as the policy which governs them. The policy can be found via this link: BWC Policy.

Our officers are recognized throughout the law enforcement community as some of the best trained and the SJPD Body Worn Camera program is frequently used as a role model for other agencies.

smiling officer wearing a body cam The Body Worn Camera Administrative Unit is staffed full time and works closely with the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office as well as other allied agencies. The unit also closely monitors the use of Body Worn Camera’s and updates all personnel with any updates to policy or procedures. As the department encounters new information along the way with regard to hardware, establishing best practices and policy, we will continue to evolve and bring the citizens the best Body Worn Camera program possible.

Additional Resources

Body Camera Policy:

Contact The Body Worn Camera Unit

Body Worn Camera Release of Information

The San Jose Police Department began Body Worn Camera deployment on July 1st, 2016. As a result, officers will be generating video evidence in the course and scope of their duties as per the San Jose Police Body Worn Camera Policy. The Department recognizes public interest in access to body camera footage as a measure to police oversight and accountability, and the Department holds this video evidence and the privacy of the community in the highest regard.

While the Department values both transparency and protecting privacy, these two values are often in discord with each other. As such, the Department maintains a dialogue with leaders of community organizations, the Independent Police Auditor, the Santa Clara County District Attorney and other stakeholders to strike a balance on this issue.

City and Department Public Records Act policy treats body camera audio-visual files as records of police investigations that are generally exempt from public disclosure under the California Public Records Act (California Government Code Section 6254(f); SJPD Duty Manual Section C 2205, City Council Resolution 77135, Exhibit A, Law Enforcement Information, pages 4-10 and 4-11, passed on August 26, 2014). State law treats the police investigation record exemption as a discretionary exemption, therefore the Chief of Police may, on a case-by-case basis, make the determination to provide greater public disclosure of information or records that are otherwise exempt from disclosure due to the exemption for police investigation records, unless disclosure is otherwise prohibited by law. Any denial of a Public Records Act request can be appealed to the City Manager's Office and the City Council Rules and Open Government Committee. A requesting party also has the independent right under the Act to institute judicial proceedings for injunctive or declarative relief or a writ of mandate to enforce his or her right to inspect or to receive a copy of any public record (California Government Code Sections 6258 and 6259).

Members of the public should know that even though video evidence may not be released, the video evidence remains a valuable accountability tool. Audio-visual evidence continues to be an integral part of criminal and civil discovery. Audio-visual evidence generated by body worn cameras during the course of a police encounter that becomes the subject of a citizen complaint will be subject to administrative review by the Department and also will be subject to review by the Independent Police Auditor as part of his audit function. When an officer-involved shooting or other officer involved incident (OII) occurs, that incident is currently subject to administrative review by the Department command staff and the OII Training Review Panel (SJPD Duty Manual Section L 2646). The OII Training Review Panel includes not only members of the Department's command staff, but also includes the Independent Police Auditor and the City Attorney's Office. In addition, the City's chosen Body Worn Camera Solution affords a secure video evidence management system which ensures that the original video evidence cannot be altered or deleted by end users or investigators. The evidence management system also has an audit trail that will indefinitely track any and all access to each and every video file.