Florida lawmakers seek enforcing of body camera guidelines

No statewide guidelines on who, how, when cameras can be worn

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Thirteen Florida police agencies are already using body cameras and nine more agencies are in the pilot stage of adopting them, but each agency is setting its own guidelines, which lawmakers hope to change.

At their best, body cameras show what an officer is seeing and it eliminates questions about a case.

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While more than a dozen agencies are using them in Florida, there are no statewide guidelines on who can wear them, or how or when they can be worn.

Legislation approved by the Senate Criminal Justice Committee hopes to provide those answers. Among the issues discussed is what happens to the accidental video shot during a coffee break.

"The cafe latte here, we're going to do it this way. I can't tell you that here today," said John Rivera, of the Police Benevolent Association.

A strange coalition of police who packed the room, civil rights advocates and even public defenders like the legislation.

"We wanted a consistent policy on these body cameras because of the privacy issues that are in front of all of us," said Pinellas-Pasco Public Defender Bob Dillinger.

RELATED: Different views on use of police body cameras

Pasco County said people are already protected by policies it has in place.

"How long are the videos kept?" asked reporter Mike Vasilinda.

"It depends on what type of video it is," Pasco County sheriff's legal advisor Jeremiah Hawkes said. "If it's for a misdemeanor, we'll keep it for whatever the statute of limitations is for a misdemeanor, so two years. For certain felonies, we'll keep it longer. If it's related to a homicide or sex case, we'll keep it indefinitely."

The guidelines legislation is one of two bills dealing with this new technology. A second is much more troubling for civil rights advocates.

The second bill gives almost compete control of who sees what and when to police.

"Even if someone is shot and killed by a police officer, the so-called privacy considerations are going to trump the public's right to know," said Michelle Richardson, of the American Civil Liberties Union.

While civil rights advocates worry about cover-ups with the second piece of legislation, police are supporting both bills.