With recent national attention focused on police interaction with the public, Statesboro and Bulloch County law enforcement use body cameras to protect the public and officers alike.

Both the Statesboro Police Department and the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office use body cameras on a regular basis, and each have written policies regarding use of the body cameras. Cameras are attached to an officer’s body facing forward, aimed in the direction an officer is facing.

Officials in both agencies say using body-worn cameras eliminates confusion and helps give a clear picture of each interaction between law enforcement officers and the public, whether they are suspects or witnesses. Law enforcement officials say the cameras are a useful tool in conducting investigations, reviewing incidents and accurately documenting what happens during an encounter.

In recent highly publicized cases in which suspects were killed by police, body cam footage has been publicly viewed via media and used for investigative purposes. Officers are charged with murder in two recent deaths: George Floyd, killed by a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on his neck for more than eight minutes after he was handcuffed, and Rayshard Brooks, shot by an Atlanta police officer as he fled with an officer’s Taser.

Body cam recordings are very important when there may be questions about interaction between police and the public.

“I think overall the body cams have been very useful in refuting complaints against the deputies that were without merit or outright false,” said Bulloch County sheriff’s Chief Deputy Bill Black.

Statesboro police Chief Mike Broadhead agreed, adding they also help keep officers on their toes. The body cameras are “good for both sides,” he said.

“It’s like there is a supervisor present when there is no supervisor. We can go back and (review footage) and see what really happened.”

In the case of citizen complaints, often a body cam video will show an accusation is not true. Or, if the complaint is valid, the recording will support the complaint.

Written policy

Each agency has a written policy covering the use of body cameras, including defining when they are to be used, how they are to be checked and maintained, and what happens when a body camera is not turned on when it should be.

There are reasons a body camera may be switched off intentionally, and the policies outline those reasons as well. Both the Statesboro Police Department and Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office provided a copy of its body camera policy to the Statesboro Herald. However, Black said he is revising the BCSO policy to update it.

“I am in the process of re-writing it, as this policy still contains protocols for DVD recorders which we no longer have — they are all DVR based now,” he said. “We follow Georgia law for preservation of video. However, I haven't destroyed any video since I was made the primary evidence custodian well over a decade ago. I still maintain all the physical DVD's from the old system.”

The BCSO also has a system where video can be retrieved even days after the fact, he said,

The City of Statesboro also archives recordings, Broadhead said. The recordings, on DVD, USB drives or any other method of storage are kept according to state public record retention laws in accordance with city policy.

Who wears the cameras?

Both agencies have strict guidelines as to who wears body cameras. The sheriff’s office utilizes 40 cameras, while the police department issues 60. SPD detectives and patrol officers, or any officer serving as a first responder, switches on their camera when they head to a scene.

The cameras are worn by “all officers assigned to the police bureau …officers must use them unless otherwise ordered by a supervisor,” the SPD policy states.

BCSO deputies required to use body cameras include road patrol, those ranking sergeant or below; K9 handlers under the rank of corporal; motorcycle units, civil warrant officers and school resource officers.

Statesboro police officers are expected to turn their body cameras on at the beginning of “all dispatched or self-initiated calls, contact with citizens, on performing any official duties or any situation where the officer deems necessary,” Broadhead said.

Officers should inform people when they are being recorded, unless undercover, and if someone asks that they not be recorded, officers can comply at their discretion but must first record the citizen’s request and the officer’s response.

Body cam use is a bit different with the county. Technically, the BCSO body cams are always working, Black said. “The sheriff’s office utilizes the “Record after the Fact” feature, which is available on the WatchGuard brand body camera systems. Essentially, all the body cams record on a loop, so that if something happens and you don’t have your camera on, you can still go back and possibly retrieve the recording.”

This isn’t foolproof, however. According to policy, BCSO deputies are required to enable the “After the Fact” feature whenever they are on duty, he said.  

Deputes must make recordings of vehicle stops, investigative stops, responding to a crime in progress, vehicle pursuits, or any call that may involve arrest, use of force, or any encounter with the public that may  be “adversarial in nature,” according to the policy. These recordings should be downloaded and turned over to the case investigator and preserved for storage.

Every time an officer or deputy puts on a camera, he or she is required to make sure it works. “They are checked daily,” Broadhead said. The cameras “give an error message” if they are malfunctioning, and the department has never had a camera fail to record if it was checked out before use. But just in case, city police also use dash cameras ad passenger cameras in patrol cars to “back up” the body cams, he said.

Bulloch County deputies are expected to become familiar with their cameras and supervisors check to make sure everything is working correctly, Black said.

Forgetting to turn it on

Everybody makes mistakes, but if an officer or deputy forgets to turn on their body camera, it can lead to disciplinary action.

“The most severe disciplinary measures we have taken so far have been verbal warnings,” Black said.

Since deputies must also write incident reports for anything that requires video, such a report will also note whether a deputy fails to record.

There have been times when a city police officer didn’t use their camera, too.

“Yes, officers forget,” Broadhead said. “Especially when the program was new – not so often now that they are used to it. We have never had an officer turn off a camera intentionally” (unless there was a legal and documented reason). Should an officer fail to use the body camera, “Discipline starts with a verbal reprimand” and if the problem persists, a letter of reprimand, he said. 

For both agencies, discipline would vary depending upon whether an act was intentional, and whether the officer or deputy had previous violations.

Georgia has a law covering the preservation of body cam footage that is downloaded as evidence or supplement to an incident report. Black said,

Records for both the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office and Statesboro Police Department are kept in accordance to this law, Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA) 50—18—96., which states: “Retention of video recordings from law enforcement sources; destruction; presumption from destruction; fee for duplication. ... (d) This Code section shall not require the destruction of such video recording after the required retention period.”

Both Broadhead and Black said body cam footage is public record and can be obtained through open records requests.

Herald reporter Holli Deal Saxon may be reached at (912) 489—9414.