Baltimore County, MD Hello Baltimore County, 2 Nov 2016

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From YouTube: Body Cameras: Hello Baltimore County November 2016

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Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger offers his perspective as the County’s head prosecutor.

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( ♪♪♪ ).

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Welcome to hello, baltimore county., I'm your host, ellen kobler. on october 19th,, baltimore, county executive, kevin kamenetz.

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Announced that he is accelerating the implementation.

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Of police body cameras for patrol officers.

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As we've seen around the country,, these official video records.

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Can often add clarity,, but it's not a perfect system by any means.

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And the act of recording people, as well as the file storage.

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And access to the video presents a complex web of issues.

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Here, with a unique perspective on the challenges and benefits of body cameras,.

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Is baltimore county state's attorney, scott shellenberger.?

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Thank you so much for joining us. ellen, thanks for having me. so,, give us a quick take on what the state's attorney's office is.

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And what your role is in the justice system.

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sure. as your viewers know,, we handle every criminal case.

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That occur here in baltimore county., so that runs everywhere from a simple assault.

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All the way up to a murder case and everything in between.

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We handle about 45,000 criminal cases a year in baltimore, county.

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In fact, we're the third busiest criminal court in the state of maryland.

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Is that right? okay, so tell us a little bit.

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About how you perceive these police body, camera video, --.

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The impact you see it having on prosecutions.

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Well, I think this is going to represent a sea change in law enforcement and in the way we prosecute cases.

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Since the county executive launched his program in july,.

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There are currently a little over 150 body cameras on the street.

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They're mainly put on patrol officers and I've been viewing some of these to just get a flavor for. What's out there.

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And we believe it's going to greatly help our prosecution.

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The other day I watched a driving under the influence case in which the person refused to take a breathalyzer., but at one point during the field sobriety test,, the individual actually fell. Down..

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If you play that in a court room for a judge or a jury, you're going to win your case., and so it does have a tremendous impact on our ability to prosecute --.

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And I think, prosecute effectively. and make sure the fact finder knows exactly what happened.

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And they're not hearing it from somebody's memory.

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yeah, we've all seen where the video itself has a profoundly stronger impact.

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On people's perceptions than an eyewitness, account.

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yeah,- and I think this is particularly true in domestic violence, cases.

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When the first patrol officer rolls up to the scene.

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And encounters the victim, and you can actually hear the tone.

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Of the voice, see the fear, -- and also see the injuries.

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That have appeared rather rapidly.

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You know,, I think, that'll, have a great impact on both judges and jurors.

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Well, that actually leads us right into my main question:.

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Talk a little bit about when the cameras are turned on,.

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When they need to be turned off., there's privacy issues, all sorts of...

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well,. I do have to tell everyone that this is a very complicated issue.

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But basically the cameras need to be turned on during enforcement. Actions.

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And when you're in your car,, the best way to say it's, enforcement.

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Is when lights and sirens go on., okay. and so,? You know, that's one place,, but also when they roll up to the scene of a crime or a call,.

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Because they don't know exactly what's going to happen., but we're also very mindful of privacy, issues,.

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And that is,, you know, when you get a call at 2:00 in the morning.

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And respond to a call, people aren't at their best.

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Yeah., either the way their dressed, the way they talk, they way they act.

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There could be juveniles involved,, young children.,.

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So we have to be very careful about privacy, issues.

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You know, just something as simple as responding to a crime.

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That happened at a gym and you might have to go into a locker room.

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You have to be incredibly mindful of where you are and what your surroundings are.

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Okay, and in some cases,, the video is a public record.

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But there is redaction where people's faces are blurred.

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Or certain audio is blocked, out.

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So that is where a great deal of the time comes in with the folks in my office.

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We have evidence specialists who are viewing the videos.

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They are shielding, say,, juveniles', faces.,.

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They are shielding people's personal information --, that is their address and phone number..

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When you call in for a robbery in a parking lot,, the first question an officer is going to ask: you is: what's your name, address, and phone number. and, you know,? Eventually, I need to turn that information over to defense counsel..

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Well, we are masking the address and phone number for the witness's safety.

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And so all of that is very important and we're doing it very well.

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Who has access to the video? so right now,? What happens? Is the video has--?

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The access comes from the police department..

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They have access to all their own videos and then some of the administrators have access to other videos.

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When an arrest is made, that video gets pushed over.

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To my side of the web and then my folks --.

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Prosecutors and evidence specialists -- have access to the video.

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They can use it for their cases., they can decide how they want to use it.

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and then at some point we have to turn the video over to defense counsel.

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And that's where the redaction comes in., because defense counsel has a right to look at it. Also.

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Okay, and when does the public and the media have access to video.

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If there's an ongoing investigation?.

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So, under the rules for public access,, if there's an ongoing investigation,.

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Then we can withhold release., certainly if a video is played in a courtroom,. That's a public courtroom.

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And therefore, everyone would access to it once it's played.

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Once the case is over,, then that's when the public information requests kick in and the media, and certainly private citizens.

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Could make a request for that video., and there are times where we can not turn it over.

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But those times are pretty limited once the case is done.

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Okay, and there's--, I believe, there's also some discretion where the video could be released publicly, depending on the circumstances.

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Correct, and we work very closely with the police department.

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In that regard, because I want to make sure that releasing the video.

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Before the case is over, doesn't impact the defendant s ability.

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To get a fair trial. sure,, that's the most important thing., and so as long as the video can get released and it doesn't impact the defendant s ability to get a fair trial,.

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Then the police department- and I will make a decision that that's okay, to go out to the public.

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okay,. And what about the storage and retention of this video?.

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It's a lot of video.

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Yes., the police department and I have met and my deputies.

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And we've been to countless meetings and we've come up with a storage plan.

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Where traffic cases are basically stored for 18 months.

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If it's a jail-able offense,, the storage will last three years.

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If it's your garden, variety felony, like a burglary.

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Or maybe a simple robbery,, that's 10 years.

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And for your big crimes, -- your murder, rape, and very serious violent crimes, --.

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We keep those videos forever.

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okay., well, thank you so much for shedding some light for us.

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On what seems like a simple thing with the police body cameras.

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But really is fairly complicated. thanks so much for having me. sure. and thank you for watching hello, baltimore county..

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You can learn more about the county's police body cameras program.

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On the county, website. and don't forget to connect with baltimore county government on facebook and twitter., we'll see you next time. ( ♪♪♪ ).