January26,2015TestimonytotheSenateJudicialProceedingsCommittee

inOPPOSITIONtoSB0482,"AnActconcerningPublicSafetyLawEnforcementOfficers
BodyWornCameras"
ThomasNephew,Member,MontgomeryCountyCivilRightsCoalition
[contactinformationremoved]
Speakingfortheactivistgroup"MontgomeryCountyCivilRightsCoalition"andformyself,I
reluctantlyopposethislegislation.Ourgroupisproudtobepartofastatewidecoalition
supportingmanyoftheotherinitiativesbeforethiscommitteetoday:lawenforcementofficer
billofrightsreform,stateprosecutorsforpoliceinvolveddeaths,antiracialprofilinglegislation.
Thisbillisdifferent,becauseifpoliceaccountabilityisthegoal,thisisaboutatoolthatliterally
pointsinthewrongdirection:policewornbodycameras.We'reawareoftheclaimsthatthis
technologyreducespolicerelatedviolence,e.g.,inRialta,California,butinourownresearch i
we'vefoundsomanycounterexamplesandcaveatsfromAlbuquerquetoSaltLakeCitythat
it'scleartousthattherealstoryismorecomplex.
Still,withrigoroussafeguards,we'dbecontenttosupportthisbill.Butwedontseeenoughof
thosesafeguardsinthisbill.
Tobesure,weverymuchwelcomethatthisbillensuresthatpolicecantpickandchoosewhen
toactivatebodycameras,andthattheycantusethemtoconductsurveillanceof
constitutionallyprotectedactivities(i.e.,demonstrationsormeetings).Butwe'redeeply
troubledbythepossibilitythatthislegislaturewouldcondonetheretrospectivebrowsingof
bodycamerafootageonnostrongerabasisthanthe'reasonablesuspicion'oflaw
enforcement.Thisisabackdoortosurveillancebybodycamera,andit'sswingingwideopen.
Atminimum,suchretrospectivesurveillanceshouldbesubjecttojudicialoversightanda
'probablecause'standardandeventhen,thislegislaturewouldbeexpandinganever
growingsurveillancestateyetagain.
Justasimportantly,thebilldoesntappeartosetstoragetimelimitsasrecommended ii by
thenationalACLU.Wedisagreethatthisisamootpointbecauseofallegedlawenforcement
budgetconstraints.Iftherearetwotechnicalconstantsin21stcenturytechnology,theyare
decreasingcostsofcomputingpoweranddecreasingcostsofdatastorage.Andifthere'sa
politicalconstantinthisrespect,it'stheappetiteofCongresstolavishfundsandsurplus
militarytechnologyonlocalpoliceforces.Datastoragewon'tbeaconstraint,itwillbeahighly
profitableboondoggle,unlessstoragelimitsaresetinadvance.
Itsalsonotcleartouswhetherthisbillpreventslocallawenforcementsharingbodycamvideo
withfederalagenciesorhybridlocalstatefederaltaskforces.Inapossiblyrelatedissue,a
narrowviewofthisbill'slanguagemightalsosuggestthatwhilestoreddatamaynotbe

comparedagainstbiometricorotherdatasets,live,streamingrealtimedatacouldbe;indeed,
thatseemstobethepointofemphasizinglimitsonstoreddatause.Whilethoselimitsare
welcome,they'renotenough.It'salltooeasytoenvisionbodycameravideodatabeing
simultaneouslycomparedtobiometricdatabasesinrealtime,copiedovertofederalorjoint
taskforces,andstoredingiantdatastoragefacilitieslikethosebeingbuiltfortheNSAinUtah
andthatallbeingperfectlylegalunderthislaw.Itwouldbeadisservicetocommunities
mobilizingagainstlocalpoliceabusesforthislegislaturetounnecessarilyenablenewabusesby
otherlawenforcementagencies.
Wethinkthesolutionforpoliceaccountabilitylieselsewhere:withrigorousrecordkeepingand
transparentreportingofallpolicecitizeninteractions,andwithtrulyindependentcivilian
reviewboardswithinvestigativeandsubpoenapowers.Wethereforeurgethiscommitteeto
considertheracialprofilingand"encounterform"provisionsoftheLocalCivilRights
RestorationAct,developedbytheBillofRightsDefenseCommittee, iii andtoconsidercitizen
reviewboardlegislationsuchasthatindraftlegislationdevelopedbyNorthCarolinaGeneral
AssemblyrepresentativeR.Moore. iv
Weurgethatthisbill,however,beamendedtoaddresstheconcernsoutlinedabove.Until
then,wemustreluctantlyopposeit.

"Policebodycameras:eyesonus,notonthem?"ThomasNephew.February2,2015.MontgomeryCountyCivil
RightsCoalition.Retrieved2/26/2015athttps://mococivilrights.wordpress.com/2015/02/02/policebodycameras
eyesonusnotonthem/
ii
"PoliceBodyMountedCameras:WithRightPoliciesinPlace,aWinForAll."JayStanley.October9,2013.
Retrieved2/26/2015athttps://www.aclu.org/technologyandliberty/policebodymountedcamerasright
policiesplacewinall
iii
ModelOrdinance:LocalCivilRightsRestorationAct.BillofRightsDefenseCommittee.2010.Retrieved
2/26/2015athttp://www.constitutioncampaign.org/ordinances/lawenforcement.pdf
iv
GeneralAssemblyofNorthCarolinaSession2015BillDraft2015ML5,ProhibitDiscriminatoryProfiling.
Retrieved2/26/2015athttp://tinyurl.com/ofu4svz