Kwamena’s Law: Expand Police Body-Worn Camera Use
Expand our statewide body-worn camera requirement to include: plainclothes officers, armed off-duty officers, and municipal police departments.
Maryland must require the same transparency and accountability for plainclothes and off-duty police officers as for on-duty, uniformed officers. Action is needed now because plainclothes officers have a documented history of excessive force and misconduct.
Kwamena’s Law seeks to fill in the missing pieces in our statewide body-worn camera (BWC) law that leave too many police/civilian interactions unrecorded. Here’s how:
The law requires all on-duty police officers to wear BWCs when interacting with the public, including plainclothes officers. All camera use must comply with Maryland’s wiretap statute.
The law expands the required issuance and use of BWCs to municipalities. There are 88 municipal police departments in Maryland. They should be held to the same standards of transparency and accountability as our county and state law enforcement agencies.
The law requires off-duty officers who are in uniform and working for private employers as police officers (called department-approved secondary employment) to use body-worn cameras.
ACTION ALERT: Tell legislators to vote "yes" on Kwamena's Law (HB429) to expand police body-worn camera use to include: plainclothes officers, armed off-duty officers, and municipal police departments. TAKE ACTION