The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) body-worn camera (BWC) project officially concluded the pilot phase on the evening of October 19, 2023. Since August, members from PPB’s Focused Intervention Team, Central Precinct Patrol, and Central Neighborhood Response Team/Bike Squad have been testing the cameras on loan from Axon. Overall, members adjusted quickly to using the additional piece of equipment.
Over the course of the weeks-long pilot project, the body-worn cameras captured a total of 35,831 pieces of evidence. Of the 35,831 pieces of evidence, there were 29,869 videos recorded by the BWCs and another 5,962 photos or videos either taken by officers or submitted by community members using an app. In total, the evidence is 12.73 terabytes of information.
With the BWC pilot project wrapped up, the initiative to bring body-worn cameras to PPB moves to the next phase. The pilot project will now be reviewed and scored. Following that, if approved by City Council, the BWC policy will be adjusted, contract negotiated and infrastructure prepped. Additional PPB members will be trained and the cameras will be rolled out. All of this is slated to happen over the course of the next 10 months.
PPB is eager to fully implement the body-worn camera program seeing as these cameras play a pivotal role in 21st century policing. The cameras will enhance the community-police relationship, provide all stakeholders with greater accountability and a better understanding of critical events. In addition, the cameras will facilitate fair and transparent adjudication across criminal and civil matters.
PPB continues to maintain an informational website with details about the BWC project, including the project overview, an infographic detailing the anticipated timeline for each step, the pilot policy, notes from feedback provided by the community during our outreach efforts, and a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page. That’s available at https://www.portland.gov/police/community/body-worn-camera-project.
