Bill Text: IL SB1385 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Law Enforcement Officer-Worn Body Camera Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the Act's purpose.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2021-01-13 - Session Sine Die [SB1385 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-SB1385-Introduced.html

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101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2019 and 2020 SB1385 Introduced 2/13/2019, by Sen. Antonio Muñoz SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
50 ILCS 706/10-20
50 ILCS 706/10-40 new
Amends the Law Enforcement Officer-Worn Body Camera Act. Provides that any recording disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act shall be redacted to remove identification of any person that appears on the recording and is not a subject of the encounter, directly involved in the encounter, and all law enforcement officer identifiers if the recordings are made available from any law enforcement or government agency to the media or public unless that law enforcement officer has been criminally charged relative to the recorded incident. Provides that if any law enforcement or government agency fails to follow the requirements of the Act, the agency is liable for a penalty of $100 per day to the affected individual. Provides that the individual and that individual's labor organization has the right to file suit against that law enforcement agency to require the agency to comply with the terms of the Act.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning local government.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Law Enforcement Officer-Worn Body Camera Act
is amended by changing Section 10-20 and by adding Section
10-40 as follows:
(50 ILCS 706/10-20)
Sec. 10-20. Requirements.
(a) The Board shall develop basic guidelines for the use of
officer-worn body cameras by law enforcement agencies. The
guidelines developed by the Board shall be the basis for the
written policy which must be adopted by each law enforcement
agency which employs the use of officer-worn body cameras. The
written policy adopted by the law enforcement agency must
include, at a minimum, all of the following:
(1) Cameras must be equipped with pre-event recording,
capable of recording at least the 30 seconds prior to
camera activation, unless the officer-worn body camera was
purchased and acquired by the law enforcement agency prior
to July 1, 2015.
(2) Cameras must be capable of recording for a period
of 10 hours or more, unless the officer-worn body camera
was purchased and acquired by the law enforcement agency

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prior to July 1, 2015.
(3) Cameras must be turned on at all times when the
officer is in uniform and is responding to calls for
service or engaged in any law enforcement-related
encounter or activity, that occurs while the officer is on
duty.
(A) If exigent circumstances exist which prevent
the camera from being turned on, the camera must be
turned on as soon as practicable.
(B) Officer-worn body cameras may be turned off
when the officer is inside of a patrol car which is
equipped with a functioning in-car camera; however,
the officer must turn on the camera upon exiting the
patrol vehicle for law enforcement-related encounters.
(4) Cameras must be turned off when:
(A) the victim of a crime requests that the camera
be turned off, and unless impractical or impossible,
that request is made on the recording;
(B) a witness of a crime or a community member who
wishes to report a crime requests that the camera be
turned off, and unless impractical or impossible that
request is made on the recording; or
(C) the officer is interacting with a confidential
informant used by the law enforcement agency.
However, an officer may continue to record or resume
recording a victim or a witness, if exigent circumstances

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exist, or if the officer has reasonable articulable
suspicion that a victim or witness, or confidential
informant has committed or is in the process of committing
a crime. Under these circumstances, and unless impractical
or impossible, the officer must indicate on the recording
the reason for continuing to record despite the request of
the victim or witness.
(4.5) Cameras may be turned off when the officer is
engaged in community caretaking functions. However, the
camera must be turned on when the officer has reason to
believe that the person on whose behalf the officer is
performing a community caretaking function has committed
or is in the process of committing a crime. If exigent
circumstances exist which prevent the camera from being
turned on, the camera must be turned on as soon as
practicable.
(5) The officer must provide notice of recording to any
person if the person has a reasonable expectation of
privacy and proof of notice must be evident in the
recording. If exigent circumstances exist which prevent
the officer from providing notice, notice must be provided
as soon as practicable.
(6) For the purposes of redaction, labeling, or
duplicating recordings, access to camera recordings shall
be restricted to only those personnel responsible for those
purposes. The recording officer and his or her supervisor

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may access and review recordings prior to completing
incident reports or other documentation, provided that the
officer or his or her supervisor discloses that fact in the
report or documentation.
(7) Recordings made on officer-worn cameras must be
retained by the law enforcement agency or by the camera
vendor used by the agency, on a recording medium for a
period of 90 days.
(A) Under no circumstances shall any recording
made with an officer-worn body camera be altered,
erased, or destroyed prior to the expiration of the
90-day storage period.
(B) Following the 90-day storage period, any and
all recordings made with an officer-worn body camera
must be destroyed, unless any encounter captured on the
recording has been flagged. An encounter is deemed to
be flagged when:
(i) a formal or informal complaint has been
filed;
(ii) the officer discharged his or her firearm
or used force during the encounter;
(iii) death or great bodily harm occurred to
any person in the recording;
(iv) the encounter resulted in a detention or
an arrest, excluding traffic stops which resulted
in only a minor traffic offense or business

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offense;
(v) the officer is the subject of an internal
investigation or otherwise being investigated for
possible misconduct;
(vi) the supervisor of the officer,
prosecutor, defendant, or court determines that
the encounter has evidentiary value in a criminal
prosecution; or
(vii) the recording officer requests that the
video be flagged for official purposes related to
his or her official duties.
(C) Under no circumstances shall any recording
made with an officer-worn body camera relating to a
flagged encounter be altered or destroyed prior to 2
years after the recording was flagged. If the flagged
recording was used in a criminal, civil, or
administrative proceeding, the recording shall not be
destroyed except upon a final disposition and order
from the court.
(8) Following the 90-day storage period, recordings
may be retained if a supervisor at the law enforcement
agency designates the recording for training purposes. If
the recording is designated for training purposes, the
recordings may be viewed by officers, in the presence of a
supervisor or training instructor, for the purposes of
instruction, training, or ensuring compliance with agency

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policies.
(9) Recordings shall not be used to discipline law
enforcement officers unless:
(A) a formal or informal complaint of misconduct
has been made;
(B) a use of force incident has occurred;
(C) the encounter on the recording could result in
a formal investigation under the Uniform Peace
Officers' Disciplinary Act; or
(D) as corroboration of other evidence of
misconduct.
Nothing in this paragraph (9) shall be construed to
limit or prohibit a law enforcement officer from being
subject to an action that does not amount to discipline.
(10) The law enforcement agency shall ensure proper
care and maintenance of officer-worn body cameras. Upon
becoming aware, officers must as soon as practical document
and notify the appropriate supervisor of any technical
difficulties, failures, or problems with the officer-worn
body camera or associated equipment. Upon receiving
notice, the appropriate supervisor shall make every
reasonable effort to correct and repair any of the
officer-worn body camera equipment.
(11) No officer may hinder or prohibit any person, not
a law enforcement officer, from recording a law enforcement
officer in the performance of his or her duties in a public

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place or when the officer has no reasonable expectation of
privacy. The law enforcement agency's written policy shall
indicate the potential criminal penalties, as well as any
departmental discipline, which may result from unlawful
confiscation or destruction of the recording medium of a
person who is not a law enforcement officer. However, an
officer may take reasonable action to maintain safety and
control, secure crime scenes and accident sites, protect
the integrity and confidentiality of investigations, and
protect the public safety and order.
(b) Recordings made with the use of an officer-worn body
camera are not subject to disclosure under the Freedom of
Information Act, except that:
(1) if the subject of the encounter has a reasonable
expectation of privacy, at the time of the recording, any
recording which is flagged, due to the filing of a
complaint, discharge of a firearm, use of force, arrest or
detention, or resulting death or bodily harm, shall be
disclosed in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act
if:
(A) the subject of the encounter captured on the
recording is a victim or witness; and
(B) the law enforcement agency obtains written
permission of the subject or the subject's legal
representative;
(2) except as provided in paragraph (1) of this

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subsection (b), any recording which is flagged due to the
filing of a complaint, discharge of a firearm, use of
force, arrest or detention, or resulting death or bodily
harm shall be disclosed in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act; and
(3) upon request, the law enforcement agency shall
disclose, in accordance with the Freedom of Information
Act, the recording to the subject of the encounter captured
on the recording or to the subject's attorney, or the
officer or his or her legal representative.
For the purposes of paragraph (1) of this subsection (b),
the subject of the encounter does not have a reasonable
expectation of privacy if the subject was arrested as a result
of the encounter. For purposes of subparagraph (A) of paragraph
(1) of this subsection (b), "witness" does not include a person
who is a victim or who was arrested as a result of the
encounter.
Only recordings or portions of recordings responsive to the
request shall be available for inspection or reproduction. Any
recording disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act shall
be redacted to remove identification of any person that appears
on the recording and is not the officer, a subject of the
encounter, or directly involved in the encounter, and all law
enforcement officer identifiers if the recordings are made
available from any law enforcement or government agency to the
media or public unless that law enforcement officer has been

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criminally charged relative to the recorded incident. Nothing
in this subsection (b) shall require the disclosure of any
recording or portion of any recording which would be exempt
from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
(c) Nothing in this Section shall limit access to a camera
recording for the purposes of complying with Supreme Court
rules or the rules of evidence.
(Source: P.A. 99-352, eff. 1-1-16; 99-642, eff. 7-28-16.)
(50 ILCS 706/10-40 new)
Sec. 10-40. Penalties. If any law enforcement or government
agency fails to follow the requirements of this Act, the agency
is liable for a penalty of $100 per day to the affected
individual. The individual and that individual's labor
organization has the right to file suit against that law
enforcement agency to require the agency to comply with the
terms of this Act. The law enforcement or government agency
shall pay the attorney's fees of an individual or labor
organization who is successful in suing to enforce the terms of
this Act.