Florida Senate - 2021                                     SB 792
       
       
        
       By Senator Taddeo
       
       
       
       
       
       40-00181A-21                                           2021792__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Lowell Correctional Institution
    3         Body Cameras Pilot Program; creating s. 944.145, F.S.;
    4         creating the Lowell Correctional Institution Body
    5         Cameras Pilot Program within the Department of
    6         Corrections; providing the purpose of the pilot
    7         program; defining terms; requiring that each
    8         correctional officer working at the Lowell
    9         Correctional Institution wear a body camera while
   10         acting within the scope of his or her official duties;
   11         requiring the department to establish policies and
   12         procedures for the proper use, maintenance, and
   13         storage of such body cameras and data recorded by such
   14         body cameras; providing minimum requirements for such
   15         policies and procedures; requiring the department to
   16         provide training for the wear, use, maintenance, and
   17         storage of body cameras; requiring the audio and video
   18         data recorded by such cameras to be maintained in
   19         accordance with public records laws; requiring the
   20         department to submit annual reports beginning on a
   21         certain date; providing report requirements; providing
   22         for expiration of the pilot program; providing an
   23         effective date.
   24          
   25  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   26  
   27         Section 1. Section 944.145, Florida Statutes, is created to
   28  read:
   29         944.145 Lowell Correctional Institution Body Cameras Pilot
   30  Program.—
   31         (1) The Lowell Correctional Institution Body Cameras Pilot
   32  Program is created within the department for 3 years. The
   33  purpose of the pilot program is to ensure safety and provide
   34  accountability for each person in the institution.
   35         (2) As used in this section, the term:
   36         (a) “Body camera” means a portable electronic recording
   37  device that is worn on a correctional officer’s person and that
   38  records audio and video data of the officer’s prisoner-related
   39  encounters and activities.
   40         (b) “Correctional officer” has the same meaning as in s.
   41  943.10(2).
   42         (3) Each correctional officer working at the Lowell
   43  Correctional Institution shall wear a body camera while acting
   44  within the scope of his or her official duties. The department
   45  shall establish policies and procedures addressing the proper
   46  use, maintenance, and storage of such body cameras and the data
   47  recorded by such body cameras. The policies and procedures must,
   48  at a minimum, include all of the following:
   49         (a) General guidelines for the proper use, maintenance, and
   50  storage of body cameras.
   51         (b) Any limitations on a correctional officer’s use of the
   52  body cameras.
   53         (c) Any limitations on prisoner-related encounters and
   54  activities in which correctional officers are authorized to wear
   55  body cameras.
   56         (d) A provision allowing a correctional officer using a
   57  body camera to review the recorded footage from the body camera,
   58  upon his or her own initiative or request, before writing a
   59  report or providing a statement regarding any event arising
   60  within the scope of his or her official duties. Any such
   61  provision may not apply to an officer’s inherent duty to
   62  immediately disclose information necessary to secure an active
   63  crime scene or to identify suspects or witnesses.
   64         (e) General guidelines for the proper storage, retention,
   65  and release of audio and video data recorded by body cameras.
   66         (4) The department shall:
   67         (a) Ensure that all personnel at the Lowell Correctional
   68  Institution who wear, use, maintain, or store body cameras are
   69  trained in the department’s policies and procedures concerning
   70  the body cameras.
   71         (b) Ensure that all personnel at the Lowell Correctional
   72  Institution who use, maintain, store, or release audio or video
   73  data recorded by body cameras are trained in the department’s
   74  policies and procedures.
   75         (c) Retain audio and video data recorded by body cameras in
   76  accordance with the requirements of s. 119.021, except as
   77  otherwise provided by law.
   78         (d) Perform a periodic review of actual agency body camera
   79  practices to ensure conformity with the agency’s policies and
   80  procedures.
   81         (5) Beginning on June 30, 2022, and annually thereafter,
   82  the department shall submit a report to the Governor, the
   83  President of the Senate, the Minority Leader of the Senate, the
   84  Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Minority Leader
   85  of the House of Representatives on the operation of the program
   86  during the previous year. The report must include, at a minimum,
   87  findings based on the review of incidents at the Lowell
   88  Correctional Institution and the helpfulness of the body cameras
   89  worn by corrections officers, proposals on changes to existing
   90  policies and procedures, and any other information that the
   91  department deems important in furthering the purpose of the
   92  pilot program.
   93         (6) This section expires June 30, 2024.
   94         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.