On Monday, March 13 at 1 p.m., Councilman Curtis Jones and the Philadelphia City Council Public Safety Committee will host a hearing on body-worn cameras in room 400 of City Hall (1401 John F Kennedy Blvd).

Upturn, a technology company that helps citizens understand law and policy, recently compiled a report card of body camera policies all over the country. According to their report, Philadelphia body cam policy allows officers to review footage before filing a statement; potentially limits the deletion of unflagged footage; doesn’t allow those filing police misconduct reports to view footage; and doesn’t cover the use of biometric technologies (like facial recognition) to identify individuals in footage. Additionally, there is room for improvement regarding footage tampering and unauthorized access because the policy doesn’t indicate if footage is audited or logged. 

However, local policy scored well for making itself easily accessible and available to the public, clearly describing what officers should record, and addresses protections for those most vulnerable (such as sexual violence victims) from being filmed without consent.

The purpose of the report stresses the conditions of how cameras are used. For instance, cameras can be a way to intensify community surveillance, rather than hold officers accountable for their behavior.

In response, the Media Mobilizing Project has put together an anonymous survey asking the public about police worn body cameras. The Philadelphia Police Advisory Commission, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and Upturn have also been involved with this effort.

The survey inquires about the public’s trust in the local police force as well as the ways the cameras can hold law enforcement accountable. It also asks for those with stories about body cameras to come forward with the potential of speaking at the council meeting.

Additionally, Philadelphia residents that cannot attend Monday’s meeting are still encouraged to submit their responses. Click here to take the survey.

For updates regarding the study’s impact on the upcoming city council meeting, like and follow the Media Mobilizing Project on Facebook.

– Danielle Corcione