HB 185/195 – Body Worn Police Cameras

Obviously, some police departments in Delaware, like the New Castle County Police Department, are already wearing Body Cameras. But House Bill 185 would require pretty much every police department in the state to wear them to record all interactions with the public.

This Bill applies to every police department of any political subdivision of this State. So that includes the Delaware State Police, the three county police departments, and city and town police departments, as well as the Capitol Police, the University of Delaware Police, the Delaware State University Police, the division within the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control that employs law-enforcement officers, the task force which includes officers of the Bureau of Community Corrections of the Department of Correction, the special investigator or serious juvenile offender officers of the Division of Youth Rehabilitative Services of the Department of Services for Children, Youth, and their Families, and the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement.

The Act also requires law-enforcement agencies to retain body worn camera recordings for at least 90 days following the interaction unless the agency has received a request or a court order to preserve the recording for a longer period of time.

House Bill 195 is an identical bill but it applies to certain police officers and some certain employees of the Department of Correction and Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Their Families.