The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) launched the Body-Worn Camera (BWC) Policy and Implementation Program (PIP) in Fiscal Year 2015 to assist law enforcement agencies in enhancing or implementing BWC programs. PIP’s primary goals are to improve public safety, reduce crime, and improve trust between police and the citizens they serve.
In addition to funding over $85 million in grants to 420 police agencies across the country over the past five years, BJA also funded CNA and its partners (Arizona State University, and Justice and Security Strategies) to establish the BWC Training and Technical Assistance (BWC TTA) program. The BWC TTA program documents BWC implementation progress and activities in the funded PIP sites, identifies opportunities to assist local jurisdictions in their implementation efforts, provides such assistance in an efficient and effective manner, and generally supports the successful implementation of BWCs in the PIP sites.
In a small law enforcement agency, often one or just a few people are responsible for implementing a BWC program, which can present challenges implementing aspects of the program that often require specific knowledge (e.g., IT, community engagement, public release of video, and discovery requests). This webinar will present challenges and lessons learned associated with implementing BWCs in a small agency, focusing on the agency personnel responsible for implementing the BWC technology. BWC TTA Senior Advisor, Tom Woodmansee, will facilitate a conversation with three BWC TTA leads—Director Orlando Cuevas, Director Geoff Smith (ret.), and Shellie Solomon—discussing technology-related implementation topics and challenges such as testing and evaluation, legacy technology considerations, and vendor selection. The panelists will also discuss ways they have seen agencies overcome these challenges.
Facilitator:
Tom Woodmansee, BWC TTA Senior Advisor
Presenters:
- Director Orlando Cuevas, BWC TTA Subject Matter Expert
- Director Geoff Smith (ret.), BWC TTA Subject Matter Expert
- Shellie Solomon, CEO, Justice and Security Strategies, Inc.