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Applicable To: All employees |
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Approval Authority: Chief George N. Turner |
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Signature: Signed by GNT |
Date Signed: 6/16/11 |
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| Table of Contents | |||
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4.2 Duties of the Day Watch Commander 4.3 Duties - Evening / Morning Watch Commanders 4.4 Duties of the Watch Guard Liaison. |
4.7 Criteria for Mobile Recording 4.8 Recording of Event Not Captured in Real Time. 4.10 Tampering with System and Recordings
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This directive shall provide officers and supervisors with procedures for the use and maintenance of the hardware of the Watch Guard DV – 1 Mobile Video / Audio System, as well as the storage, duplication, and retention of all DVD recordings.
The Atlanta Police Department shall use the Watch Guard DV – 1 System and treat the produced recordings as possible evidence in the prosecution of criminal and traffic offences, as well as departmental internal investigations.
3.1 The Section Commander shall oversee the implementation and adherence of this directive to all employed under their command.
3.2 The Section Commander shall appoint a Watch Guard Liaison who shall have duties regarding the Mobile Audio Video Recordings.
3.3 Supervisors shall be responsible for retrieving the recorded DVD from all vehicles assigned to their worksite and installing a new unrecorded DVD to replace the recorded one. Supervisors shall insure that all hardware is functioning properly for all vehicles assigned to their worksites.
3.4 Supervisors shall be responsible for retrieving all full DVD recordings only during their tour of duty. They shall also be responsible for the delivery of full DVD recordings to the delegated drop-box, located at their worksite.
4.1 Issuance of Keys and Location of Storage Facility
4.1.1 The Section Commander shall designate the location of the DVD storage cabinet at worksites under their command.
4.1.2 Only the Captain and Watch Guard Liaison from every worksite shall be issued keys to the DVD drop-box and secure storage cabinet.
4.1.3 A key to the DVD drive of the Watch Guard DV – 1 System shall be issued to the Captain, Watch Guard Liaison, and every Watch Commander. The Watch Commander shall be responsible for allowing supervisors under their command access to the DVD drive key.
4.2 Duties of the Day Watch Commander
4.2.1 Retrieving and Replacing of DVD Recordings
4.2.2 The Day Watch Commander or his or her designee shall be responsible for retrieving DVD recordings from the Watch Guard DV – 1 System in every vehicle assigned to their worksite that is equipped with the system. The recorded DVD shall be removed from each vehicle prior to the beginning of early and late roll call every day, providing that the recording has reached 75% or greater of its capacity.
4.2.3 The Watch Commander or his or her designee shall replace the recorded DVD with a new unrecorded DVD.
4.2.4 The date, time span, and vehicle number shall be recorded on the DVD label for identification purposes. All DVD Recordings shall be logged on the Original DVD Recording Log (APD Form 695) and dropped into the delegated drop-box at their worksite.
4.2.5 The DVD recordings shall be stored as property in a secured cabinet strictly for the purpose of storing DVD recordings from the Watch Guard System. The cabinet shall be in a secure location at the worksite to be specified by the Section Commander.
4.2.6 In the event that an Officer is involved in a motor vehicle collision, the Day Watch Commander or his or her designee shall go to the collision scene and remove the DVD recording from the Watch Guard System and process the DVD in accordance with section 4.2.4.
4.2.7 The Day Watch Commander shall assume the responsibilities of the Watch Guard Liaison in the event of the Watch Guard Liaison’s absence.
4.3 Duties of the Evening and Morning Watch Commander
4.3.1 The Evening and Morning Watch Commander or his or her designee shall be responsible for the replacement of DVD recordings that reach maximum data capacity during their tour of duty with a new unrecorded DVD.
4.3.2 The Evening and Morning Watch Commander or his or her designee shall record the date, time span, and vehicle number on every DVD recording that is retrieved during their tour of duty, then log them on the Original DVD Recording Log (APD Form 695) and drop them into the delegated drop-box at their worksite
4.3.3 In the event an Officer is involved in a motor vehicle collision, the Watch Commander or his or her designee shall go to the collision scene and remove the DVD recording from the Watch Guard System and process the DVD in accordance with section 4.2.4.
4.4 Duties of the Watch Guard Liaison
4.4.1 The Watch Guard Liaison shall retrieve, on a daily basis, all DVD recordings from the delegated drop-box at their worksite, log in the recordings on the Original DVD Recording Log (APD Form 695); and arrange them in chronological order in the secure DVD storage cabinet.
4.4.2 The Watch Guard Liaison shall be responsible for all copy requests of DVD recordings. Copies of DVD recordings shall only be produced for request made from Public Affairs (Open Records Request), OPS, the courts, and as directed by the Chief of Police. All requests shall be approved by the Section Commander prior to copy. All copies shall be documented on the Watch Guard Copy Log (APD Form 697)
4.4.3 All requests from Public Affairs, OPS, and the Chief of Police shall result in a copy being produced of the specified DVD recording, sealed in an envelope and delivered by hand to the perspective destination. A Chain of Custody Form (APD Form 698) shall be signed by the person receiving the recording. The transfer of recordings through inter-office mail is strictly prohibited.
4.4.4 All requests from the courts shall result in a copy being produced of the specified DVD recording, and then transferred to the Property Control Unit where it shall be submitted as evidence. Retrieval of this evidence by an agent of the court shall be from Property Control. No custody of evidentiary recordings shall be transferred at the worksite. (CALEA 5th ed. standard 84.1.1b)
4.4.6 The Watch Guard Liaison shall insure that all Watch Guard DV – 1 Systems are properly maintained and receive required maintenance. This shall be documented on the Watch Guard Maintenance Log (APD Form 696). All Watch Guard DV – 1 Systems will receive maintenance at the Electronic Maintenance Unit.
4.5 Duties of SPO and Patrol Officers
4.5.1 Officers will power up the Watch Guard DV – 1 System in their assigned vehicles upon first entering the vehicle and log onto the system using their 4 – Digit ID number.
4.5.2 An inspection of the Watch Guard DV – 1 system in their assigned marked vehicles shall be conducted prior to the beginning of their tour of duty to insure that the system is functioning properly. Any malfunctions shall be reported immediately to their direct supervisor and documented on the back of their Daily Activity Sheet (APD Form 607)
4.5.3 The DVD shall be checked for storage capacity at the beginning of an Officer’s tour of duty. If maximum capacity is within 10 minutes, they shall advise their direct supervisor. The recorded DVD shall be replaced in accordance with sections 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3 of this directive.
4.5.4 The hard drive on the Watch Guard DV – 1 System can record approximately 48 hours of video before being filled to capacity and the recording system begins to re-write over previously recorded data. Officers shall check the hard drive for storage at the beginning of their tour of duty. If the hard drive is at 75% capacity or greater, the officer shall advise their direct supervisor, so any recordings not captured in real time that need to be captured shall be recorded to a DVD as instructed in section 4.7 of this directive.
4.5.5 Officers shall sign out a wireless microphone and battery pack from the radio room of their worksite at the start of their tour of duty. The wireless microphone shall be worn on the outside of the uniform shirt; in a position that shall allow for the best recording of audio.
4.5.6 Officers shall notify their supervisor to remove the DVD recording from the Watch Guard System in their patrol vehicle prior to shopping the vehicle for mechanical maintenance.
4.5.7 The Watch Guard DV – 1 System, including its internal hard drive, shall remain operational during the officer’s entire tour of duty.
4.5.8 Upon the completion of their tour of duty, officers will power down the Watch Guard DV – 1 System before exiting their vehicles.
4.6.1 Once stored in the secured cabinet, the original recording shall not be taken out of the cabinet for any reason other than to record a copy. Upon completion of the copy process, the original shall be returned to the secure cabinet. Only one DVD Recording shall be removed at a time from the secure cabinet for the purpose of copying. It shall be returned to the cabinet before another DVD Recording is removed.
4.6.2 Original recordings are not to be given to another party, unless so ordered by the Chief of Police.
4.6.3 All original recordings (Except recordings produced by the DUI Task Force) shall remain stored in the secured cabinet for a period of 1 year. At the end of that period, the original DVD recording shall be submitted to the Property Control Unit by the Watch Guard Liaison for retention as outlined in APD.SOP.6030 “Property and Evidence Control”, section 4.2 Submitting Property and Evidence. (CALEA 5th ed. standard 41.3.8c)
4.6.4 At the direction of the DUI Task Force supervisor, recorded material shall remain stored for a period of at least 3 years. At the end of the period, the recorded material shall be submitted to the Property Control Unit for indefinite retention as outlined in APD.SOP.6030 “Property and Evidence Control”, section 4.2 Submitting Property and Evidence. (CALEA 5th ed. standard 41.3.8c)
4.6.5 After the adjudication of a case, the corresponding evidentiary DVD recording shall be discarded in accordance with APD.SOP.6030 “Property and Evidence Control”, section 4.2.3 – 7.
4.6.6 Procedure for submission of original DVD Recordings to the Property Control Unit after a period of 1 year by the Watch Guard Liaison.
1. DVD Recordings are to be packed in a box, sealed with packing tape for shipping to Property Control.
2. Write a report on ICIS documenting the transfer of the property.
3. Update the Original DVD Recording Log to reference the complaint number used in the report documenting the transfer (APD Form 695).
4. Transport the Packaged DVD Recordings to the Property Control Unit.
4.7 Criteria for Mobile Recording
4.7.1 Recording Enforcement Activities
4.7.2 Officers shall record to a DVD all traffic stops and any other enforcement activities the officer deems necessary during their tour of duty.
4.7.3 Officers who intentionally interrupt the DVD recording process prior to completion of an incident shall be subject to disciplinary action.
4.7.4 Officers shall activate the wireless microphone when a DVD recording is initiated or during any police - citizen encounter they feel compelled to record. The wireless microphone shall remain activated continuously for the duration of the encounter.
4.7.5 Upon initiation of the in-cabin microphone, AM/FM Radios shall be turned off and all cell phones shall be set to silent mode to prevent interference with the recorded audio.
4.7.6 Officers may choose to terminate the DVD recording process initiated by a trigger event when involved in any situation where emergency equipment is needed for safety reasons. These situations include; but are not limited to, motor vehicle collision investigations, check points, road hazards, or escorts.
4.7.7 Trigger Event Recording
4.7.8 Patrol vehicles equipped with the Watch Guard DV – 1 System shall have a pre-set trigger to activate the DVD recording system. The pre-set trigger shall be the activation of the emergency lights on the patrol vehicles.
4.7.9 Upon activation of the emergency equipment, the Watch Guard DV – 1 system shall begin to record onto a DVD and continue until the recording is terminated by the officer activating the “stop” button on the system.
4.7.10 Non-trigger event recording
4.7.11 Situations where the Watch Guard DV – 1 System has not been activated by a trigger event, the officer may manually activate the system to capture the incident.
4.8 Recording of Event Not Captured in Real Time.
4.8.1 In the event that an incident needs to be recorded to DVD, but was not captured in real time, the Watch Commander or Supervisor shall pull the vehicle out of service, copy the data from the hard drive to DVD, and then return the vehicle to service. The involving officer will document this time out of service on their Daily Activity Sheet (APD Form 607).
4.9.1 The Watch Guard DV – 1 system shall be installed into marked vehicles of the DUI Task Force, Commercial Vehicle Unit, Auto Theft Task Force (ATTF), COPS Unit, or any other marked vehicle assigned to a specialized unit deemed necessary by the Chief of Police or his or her designee.
4.9.2 Officers and Supervisors assigned to these vehicles shall conform to all procedures outlined within this directive (APD.SOP.3131, “Mobile Video and Audio Recording”).
4.9.3 The Section Commander for each Specialized Unit under their Command shall name a Watch Guard Liaison for any unit using the Watch Guard DV – 1 System, who shall be responsible for all duties in sections 4.1 and 4.3 of this directive.
4.10 Tampering with the Watch Guard DV – 1 System and Recordings
4.10.1 The Watch Guard DV – 1 System and recordings are the property of the Atlanta Police Department. Use of the Watch Guard DV – 1 System for any purpose not associated with an officer’s normal duties is strictly prohibited.
4.10.2 The intentional destroying or altering of the Watch Guard DV – 1 System or it’s recordings by any departmental employee shall be treated as a violation of O.C.G.A. § 16 – 7 – 24, Interference with Government Property, APD.SOP.2010 Section 4.1.3 “Truthfulness”, subject to disciplinary action and possible criminal prosecution.
4.10.3 The intentional destroying or altering of any evidentiary recording produced from the Watch Guard DV – 1 System by any departmental employee shall be treated as a violation of O.C.G.A § 16 – 10 – 94, Tampering with evidence, APD.SOP.2010 Section 4.1.3 “Truthfulness”, subject to disciplinary action and possible criminal prosecution.
4.11.1 Watch Guard DV – 1 system shall be installed into marked patrol vehicles of the 6 Zones and the Airport Section, or any other marked vehicle deemed necessary by the Chief of Police or his or her designee.
4.11.2 Unless provided by a city approved vendor, all instillation of the Watch Guard DV – 1 system shall be performed by personnel of the City Shop or Electronic Maintenance Unit.
4.11.3 Officers shall not remove, alter, or relocate the Watch Guard DV – 1 system’s position in the patrol vehicle from that provided in the original installation.
5.1 Watch Guard DV - 1: A digital in – car video system that captures event(s) onto a hard drive and in DVD format.
5.2 Trigger Event: An event where the Watch Guard DV – 1 DVD recording shall be initiated by the activation of the patrol vehicles emergency equipment.
5.3 Non – Trigger Event: An event where emergency equipment has not been activated and the DVD recording process has been initiated by the Officer.
5.4 Watch Guard Liaison: A sworn employee that has been appointed by their Section Commander, responsible for all copy requests of DVD recordings, maintenance of Watch Guard DV – 1 System, and other duties regarding the recording system.
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O.C.G.A § 16 – 10 – 94, Tampering with evidence
O.C.G.A § 16 – 7 – 24, Interference with Government Property
CALEA 5th ed. Standard, July 2006
APD.SOP. 4040, Section 4.5
Watch Guard DV – 1 User Manual, Copyright © Watch Guard Video |
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