Saratoga County committee begins look at body cameras for deputies

PHOTOGRAPHER: Stephen Williams

A lot of homework awaits the committee that will decide whether the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office should issue body cameras to deputies.

While the concept of camera documentation of police actions has general support, county officials need to make decisions about how to store and maintain digital footage from the cameras before equipping deputies with the cameras.

They also need to figure out the correct balance between the need for criminal case evidence, the public’s right to know what police do, and protecting the privacy of those who may be filmed.

“It is very complex,” said Clifton Park town Supervisor Phil Barrett, chairman of a public safety subcommittee that will look at the issue. “It isn’t just about giving a camera to deputies and saying, ‘Push a button.’ ”

The subcommittee, which was named earlier this month, held its first meeting Wednesday at the county offices in Ballston Spa.

“I think we need to take our time with this. There’s a lot of information that’s out there,” said Sheriff Michael Zurlo, a member of the subcommittee.

Barrett said the group will need to study the various camera and data storage options available and recommend policies and procedures for use of the cameras. He expects the study to take several months.

“Obviously, there’s a lot to this topic,” Barrett said. “Body cameras can provide a lot of good evidence of interactions between the police and the public.”

Nationally, there have been growing calls for officers to use body cameras in the wake of the police killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in August. The officer involved said Brown assaulted him, but there is no video evidence.

Police departments as large as Los Angeles have adopted the technology, and New York City is now testing it. Locally, Saratoga Springs police have had cameras on some officers since late 2013.

Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Richard Castle said the most widely cited study of body cameras is from Rialto, California, where use of force by officers dropped 59 percent and citizen complaints dropped 87.5 percent.

But Castle cautioned California law requires officers to tell people they’re being recorded, which affects their behavior. New York doesn’t require such notifications.

Decisions will need to be made about how to store camera data, Castle said, and for how long. The large amounts of data gathered could be stored on a county computer, or it could be stored on a privately owned, off-site server for a monthly charge, he said.

County Attorney Stephen Dorsey said state regulations require some criminal case material to be stored forever. While video footage generally isn’t available to the public while a criminal case is pending, it is subject to release under the state’s Freedom of Information Law. Dorsey said there could be exemptions, though, especially when a sexual assault victim or other crime victim is on the video.

According to Castle, the American Civil Liberties Union recommends any routine video of citizen interactions that don’t end in an arrest be deleted within 10 days.

“We may find that in some areas, the law has not caught up with the technology,” Barrett said.

The subcommittee will make a report to the county Public Safety Committee, which could in turn make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors.

Barrett said it’s too soon to know the cost of equipping deputies with body cameras.

“I’m very hopeful we can have a recommendation to the Public Safety Committee and then go to the Board of Supervisors in time so they can consider a recommendation before the 2016 budget,” he said.