102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
HB5775

 

Introduced 11/16/2022, by Rep. La Shawn K. Ford

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
50 ILCS 706/10-20

    Amends the Law Enforcement Officer-Worn Body Camera Act. Provides that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, if a law enforcement agency has in its possession a recording from an officer-worn body camera which shows an individual under 18 years of age being shot or tased by an officer, then the law enforcement agency must release the recording, in its entirety, to that individual's parent or legal guardian not later than 7 calendar days after receiving a written demand for that material from the parent or legal guardian. A demand under this subsection is not a request for a public record under the Freedom of Information Act.


LRB102 28305 AWJ 40176 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB5775LRB102 28305 AWJ 40176 b

1    AN ACT concerning local government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Law Enforcement Officer-Worn Body Camera
5Act is amended by changing Section 10-20 as follows:
 
6    (50 ILCS 706/10-20)
7    Sec. 10-20. Requirements.
8    (a) The Board shall develop basic guidelines for the use
9of officer-worn body cameras by law enforcement agencies. The
10guidelines developed by the Board shall be the basis for the
11written policy which must be adopted by each law enforcement
12agency which employs the use of officer-worn body cameras. The
13written policy adopted by the law enforcement agency must
14include, at a minimum, all of the following:
15        (1) Cameras must be equipped with pre-event recording,
16    capable of recording at least the 30 seconds prior to
17    camera activation, unless the officer-worn body camera was
18    purchased and acquired by the law enforcement agency prior
19    to July 1, 2015.
20        (2) Cameras must be capable of recording for a period
21    of 10 hours or more, unless the officer-worn body camera
22    was purchased and acquired by the law enforcement agency
23    prior to July 1, 2015.

 

 

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1        (3) Cameras must be turned on at all times when the
2    officer is in uniform and is responding to calls for
3    service or engaged in any law enforcement-related
4    encounter or activity that occurs while the officer is on
5    duty.
6            (A) If exigent circumstances exist which prevent
7        the camera from being turned on, the camera must be
8        turned on as soon as practicable.
9            (B) Officer-worn body cameras may be turned off
10        when the officer is inside of a patrol car which is
11        equipped with a functioning in-car camera; however,
12        the officer must turn on the camera upon exiting the
13        patrol vehicle for law enforcement-related encounters.
14            (C) Officer-worn body cameras may be turned off
15        when the officer is inside a correctional facility or
16        courthouse which is equipped with a functioning camera
17        system.
18        (4) Cameras must be turned off when:
19            (A) the victim of a crime requests that the camera
20        be turned off, and unless impractical or impossible,
21        that request is made on the recording;
22            (B) a witness of a crime or a community member who
23        wishes to report a crime requests that the camera be
24        turned off, and unless impractical or impossible that
25        request is made on the recording;
26            (C) the officer is interacting with a confidential

 

 

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1        informant used by the law enforcement agency; or
2            (D) an officer of the Department of Revenue enters
3        a Department of Revenue facility or conducts an
4        interview during which return information will be
5        discussed or visible.
6        However, an officer may continue to record or resume
7    recording a victim or a witness, if exigent circumstances
8    exist, or if the officer has reasonable articulable
9    suspicion that a victim or witness, or confidential
10    informant has committed or is in the process of committing
11    a crime. Under these circumstances, and unless impractical
12    or impossible, the officer must indicate on the recording
13    the reason for continuing to record despite the request of
14    the victim or witness.
15        (4.5) Cameras may be turned off when the officer is
16    engaged in community caretaking functions. However, the
17    camera must be turned on when the officer has reason to
18    believe that the person on whose behalf the officer is
19    performing a community caretaking function has committed
20    or is in the process of committing a crime. If exigent
21    circumstances exist which prevent the camera from being
22    turned on, the camera must be turned on as soon as
23    practicable.
24        (5) The officer must provide notice of recording to
25    any person if the person has a reasonable expectation of
26    privacy and proof of notice must be evident in the

 

 

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1    recording. If exigent circumstances exist which prevent
2    the officer from providing notice, notice must be provided
3    as soon as practicable.
4        (6) (A) For the purposes of redaction, labeling, or
5    duplicating recordings, access to camera recordings shall
6    be restricted to only those personnel responsible for
7    those purposes. The recording officer or his or her
8    supervisor may not redact, label, duplicate or otherwise
9    alter the recording officer's camera recordings. Except as
10    otherwise provided in this Section, the recording officer
11    and his or her supervisor may access and review recordings
12    prior to completing incident reports or other
13    documentation, provided that the supervisor discloses that
14    fact in the report or documentation.
15            (i) A law enforcement officer shall not have
16        access to or review his or her body-worn camera
17        recordings or the body-worn camera recordings of
18        another officer prior to completing incident reports
19        or other documentation when the officer:
20                (a) has been involved in or is a witness to an
21            officer-involved shooting, use of deadly force
22            incident, or use of force incidents resulting in
23            great bodily harm;
24                (b) is ordered to write a report in response
25            to or during the investigation of a misconduct
26            complaint against the officer.

 

 

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1            (ii) If the officer subject to subparagraph (i)
2        prepares a report, any report shall be prepared
3        without viewing body-worn camera recordings, and
4        subject to supervisor's approval, officers may file
5        amendatory reports after viewing body-worn camera
6        recordings. Supplemental reports under this provision
7        shall also contain documentation regarding access to
8        the video footage.
9            (B) The recording officer's assigned field
10        training officer may access and review recordings for
11        training purposes. Any detective or investigator
12        directly involved in the investigation of a matter may
13        access and review recordings which pertain to that
14        investigation but may not have access to delete or
15        alter such recordings.
16        (7) Recordings made on officer-worn cameras must be
17    retained by the law enforcement agency or by the camera
18    vendor used by the agency, on a recording medium for a
19    period of 90 days.
20            (A) Under no circumstances shall any recording,
21        except for a non-law enforcement related activity or
22        encounter, made with an officer-worn body camera be
23        altered, erased, or destroyed prior to the expiration
24        of the 90-day storage period. In the event any
25        recording made with an officer-worn body camera is
26        altered, erased, or destroyed prior to the expiration

 

 

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1        of the 90-day storage period, the law enforcement
2        agency shall maintain, for a period of one year, a
3        written record including (i) the name of the
4        individual who made such alteration, erasure, or
5        destruction, and (ii) the reason for any such
6        alteration, erasure, or destruction.
7            (B) Following the 90-day storage period, any and
8        all recordings made with an officer-worn body camera
9        must be destroyed, unless any encounter captured on
10        the recording has been flagged. An encounter is deemed
11        to be flagged when:
12                (i) a formal or informal complaint has been
13            filed;
14                (ii) the officer discharged his or her firearm
15            or used force during the encounter;
16                (iii) death or great bodily harm occurred to
17            any person in the recording;
18                (iv) the encounter resulted in a detention or
19            an arrest, excluding traffic stops which resulted
20            in only a minor traffic offense or business
21            offense;
22                (v) the officer is the subject of an internal
23            investigation or otherwise being investigated for
24            possible misconduct;
25                (vi) the supervisor of the officer,
26            prosecutor, defendant, or court determines that

 

 

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1            the encounter has evidentiary value in a criminal
2            prosecution; or
3                (vii) the recording officer requests that the
4            video be flagged for official purposes related to
5            his or her official duties.
6            (C) Under no circumstances shall any recording
7        made with an officer-worn body camera relating to a
8        flagged encounter be altered or destroyed prior to 2
9        years after the recording was flagged. If the flagged
10        recording was used in a criminal, civil, or
11        administrative proceeding, the recording shall not be
12        destroyed except upon a final disposition and order
13        from the court.
14            (D) Nothing in this Act prohibits law enforcement
15        agencies from labeling officer-worn body camera video
16        within the recording medium; provided that the
17        labeling does not alter the actual recording of the
18        incident captured on the officer-worn body camera. The
19        labels, titles, and tags shall not be construed as
20        altering the officer-worn body camera video in any
21        way.
22        (8) Following the 90-day storage period, recordings
23    may be retained if a supervisor at the law enforcement
24    agency designates the recording for training purposes. If
25    the recording is designated for training purposes, the
26    recordings may be viewed by officers, in the presence of a

 

 

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1    supervisor or training instructor, for the purposes of
2    instruction, training, or ensuring compliance with agency
3    policies.
4        (9) Recordings shall not be used to discipline law
5    enforcement officers unless:
6            (A) a formal or informal complaint of misconduct
7        has been made;
8            (B) a use of force incident has occurred;
9            (C) the encounter on the recording could result in
10        a formal investigation under the Uniform Peace
11        Officers' Disciplinary Act; or
12            (D) as corroboration of other evidence of
13        misconduct.
14        Nothing in this paragraph (9) shall be construed to
15    limit or prohibit a law enforcement officer from being
16    subject to an action that does not amount to discipline.
17        (10) The law enforcement agency shall ensure proper
18    care and maintenance of officer-worn body cameras. Upon
19    becoming aware, officers must as soon as practical
20    document and notify the appropriate supervisor of any
21    technical difficulties, failures, or problems with the
22    officer-worn body camera or associated equipment. Upon
23    receiving notice, the appropriate supervisor shall make
24    every reasonable effort to correct and repair any of the
25    officer-worn body camera equipment.
26        (11) No officer may hinder or prohibit any person, not

 

 

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1    a law enforcement officer, from recording a law
2    enforcement officer in the performance of his or her
3    duties in a public place or when the officer has no
4    reasonable expectation of privacy. The law enforcement
5    agency's written policy shall indicate the potential
6    criminal penalties, as well as any departmental
7    discipline, which may result from unlawful confiscation or
8    destruction of the recording medium of a person who is not
9    a law enforcement officer. However, an officer may take
10    reasonable action to maintain safety and control, secure
11    crime scenes and accident sites, protect the integrity and
12    confidentiality of investigations, and protect the public
13    safety and order.
14    (b) Recordings made with the use of an officer-worn body
15camera are not subject to disclosure under the Freedom of
16Information Act, except that:
17        (1) if the subject of the encounter has a reasonable
18    expectation of privacy, at the time of the recording, any
19    recording which is flagged, due to the filing of a
20    complaint, discharge of a firearm, use of force, arrest or
21    detention, or resulting death or bodily harm, shall be
22    disclosed in accordance with the Freedom of Information
23    Act if:
24            (A) the subject of the encounter captured on the
25        recording is a victim or witness; and
26            (B) the law enforcement agency obtains written

 

 

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1        permission of the subject or the subject's legal
2        representative;
3        (2) except as provided in paragraph (1) of this
4    subsection (b), any recording which is flagged due to the
5    filing of a complaint, discharge of a firearm, use of
6    force, arrest or detention, or resulting death or bodily
7    harm shall be disclosed in accordance with the Freedom of
8    Information Act; and
9        (3) upon request, the law enforcement agency shall
10    disclose, in accordance with the Freedom of Information
11    Act, the recording to the subject of the encounter
12    captured on the recording or to the subject's attorney, or
13    the officer or his or her legal representative.
14    For the purposes of paragraph (1) of this subsection (b),
15the subject of the encounter does not have a reasonable
16expectation of privacy if the subject was arrested as a result
17of the encounter. For purposes of subparagraph (A) of
18paragraph (1) of this subsection (b), "witness" does not
19include a person who is a victim or who was arrested as a
20result of the encounter.
21    Only recordings or portions of recordings responsive to
22the request shall be available for inspection or reproduction.
23Any recording disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act
24shall be redacted to remove identification of any person that
25appears on the recording and is not the officer, a subject of
26the encounter, or directly involved in the encounter. Nothing

 

 

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1in this subsection (b) shall require the disclosure of any
2recording or portion of any recording which would be exempt
3from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
4    (b-5) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if a law
5enforcement agency has in its possession a recording from an
6officer-worn body camera which shows an individual under 18
7years of age being shot or tased by an officer, then the law
8enforcement agency must release the recording, in its
9entirety, to that individual's parent or legal guardian not
10later than 7 calendar days after receiving a written demand
11for that material from the parent or legal guardian. A demand
12under this subsection is not a request for a public record
13under the Freedom of Information Act.
14    (c) Nothing in this Section shall limit access to a camera
15recording for the purposes of complying with Supreme Court
16rules or the rules of evidence.
17(Source: P.A. 101-652, eff. 7-1-21; 102-28, eff. 6-25-21;
18102-687, eff. 12-17-21; 102-694, eff. 1-7-22.)