Utah: Lawmakers Agree On Bill To Tighten Police Body Camera Rules
Salt Lake City, UT- A House committee pulled back on the progress of two bills Monday that would place new requirements on law enforcement regarding body cameras and surveillance technology.
At the same time, a House panel advanced a bill that would prohibit law enforcement officers from using no-knock forcible entry for drug possession cases, as well as place body camera and uniform requirements for no-knock raids.
HB386, a bill to place body camera regulations that would mandate how and when officers would be required to use body cameras, was unanimously voted to be held and sent to a rules committee for further study.
Bill sponsor Rep. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, said Utah laws do little to regulate body cameras, so it would outline a “lowest common denominator” for law enforcement agencies and require police departments that use the cameras to craft written policies regarding their use. The bill would outline when officers should or should not record.
Meanwhile, Rep. Mark Madsen, R-Saratoga Springs, also left the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee with contempt Friday after the panel voted to amend his bill, SB226.
Madsen crafted the bill as an attempt to “preemptively” address a powerful and surveillance technology that allows users to “look through walls” with clear and distinct imagery that can be “very invasive and detailed.”
He said while the technology is new and not all law enforcement agencies currently use the technology, it is available and has the potential to become widely used in the future.
