Florida lawmakers want to allow law enforcement officers to review their body camera footage before writing a report or making a statement.
“I was doing about 12 to 15 calls a day for police service…one traffic accident after another, one burglary after another, one complaint after another,” said Gary Bradford with the Florida Police Benevolent Association. “You cannot remember that. So, when a Sergeant comes up and says, ‘hey, yesterday or two days ago, what happened at that incident?’ You say, ‘I don’t know.’ Well, a body camera changes that dynamic.”
Rep. Shawn Harrison (R-Tampa) is sponsoring the House bill—which passed its first committee Wednesday. He says law enforcement agencies that currently use body cameras must create guidelines for how an officer must review the footage. Meanwhile, the Senate bill by Sen. Greg Steube (R-Sarasota) has not yet had a hearing.
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