UPDATE: Anne Arundel County Police Body-Worn Camera Program

UPDATE: As of September 16, 2021, every active-duty sworn member of the police department has received and been trained on their Body Worn Cameras.

From July 6th, 2021 through September 15th, 2021, officers have recorded 54,969 videos; totaling 12,539 hours of video, using 21,854 Gigabytes (21.854 Terabytes) of data storage. 

35,168 recordings were made during regular calls for service
14,008 recordings were made during traffic stops
4,118 recordings were made at vehicle crash/accident scenes
315 recordings were made during miscellaneous citizen contacts
The remaining videos were primarily made as a result of training, testing, and accidental activations not related to interactions with members of the community.

Any questions regarding our BWC policy can be found here: https://www.aacounty.org/departments/police-department/rules-and-regulations/index.html (IC 1904.4)

To request a copy of a BWC video click here:
https://www.aacounty.org/departments/police-department/central-records/pia-request/index.html

General Information on the BWC program:
https://www.aacounty.org/departments/police-department/body-worn-camera-program/

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – 4-1-21 –The Anne Arundel County Police Department is on schedule for the implementation of the body worn camera (BWC) program. Training for officers is anticipated to begin in July and continue through September of this year. The goals of the body-worn camera program are to:

• strengthen police accountability
• promote de-escalation
• enhance the ability to resolve officer-involved incidents and complaints
• improve transparency
• identify and correct internal agency issues
• strengthen officer performance and safety
• increase community safety

Update:

The police department is entering the initial community engagement phase of the Body Worn Camera (BWC) program. The agency, in coordination with the Anne Arundel County Executive’s Office, will share information with the community about the body worn cameras. As of March 31, 2021, the department’s Body Worn Camera Program web page is accessible online with information about the program. The web page may be viewed at:

https://www.aacounty.org/departments/police-department/body-worn-camera-program/index.html

This website provides information about the status of the BWC program, frequently asked questions and press releases.

The Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commission has set guidelines for the development of agency BWC program policy, which apply to all Maryland police agencies that use BWC’s. The Anne Arundel County Police Department has established standard operating procedures related to the use and management of our body worn cameras.

The agency is on track to start the BWC training for our sworn officers this summer and the agency is continuing to hire additional staff to manage and maintain the body worn camera program.