Chicago Police Department's Body Camera Policies Get Graded

A Chicago Police officer’s camera that failed to capture a recent police shooting hasn’t affected the department’s overall reputation for body camera policies, according to a study by a human rights coalition.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and technology consultant Upturn released a “Policy Scorecard” Tuesday grading the body camera policies of 50 police departments from around the nation. The scorecard was released with a demand for well-informed body camera policies, shaped with more community input.

“These new devices could be an instrument of injustice instead of a tool of accountability,” said Wade Henderson, President of the Leadership conference during a press call Tuesday.

The study graded each department based on eight different categories including whether:

• The department policies were clear and easily accessible
• The department clearly outlined what incidents an officer must record
• The department clearly addressed privacy concerns
• The policy prevents officers from viewing the video before filing a written report
• The policy clearly states the department must delete unflagged footage within six months
• The department protects against footage from being tampered with and misused
• The department makes footage available to people filing complaints
• The department limits certain technologies like facial recognition

The Leadership Conference graded each category on a three-point scale: fully satisfying the each criterion, partially satisfying or a department does not address the issue at hand.

Here's how the CPD's body camera policies fared in the study.

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