In an effort to promote officer accountability and transparency, in May 2016, Baltimore City rolled out their newest addition to a police officer’s uniform – the body worn camera (“BWC”).[1] Officers typically wear the BWC on their chest to record discrete videos of their arrests, calls for service, and car stops.[2] The police department is able to review officer BWC footage to make sure all stops and arrests are constitutional. [3] If supervising officers observe any misconduct, Internal Affairs Division gets involved to discipline the responsible officer. According to the guidelines set forth by the Baltimore City Police (“BPD”), “[t]he BWC shall be Powered On at all times while worn on the body.”[4] But, what happens when a let’s say well-known public figure like a mayoral candidate gets stopped by the police and asks the officer to turn off the BWC. Do officers comply and break the rules or should a political figure, who should know the law, catch a break?

On September 26, 2019, mayoral candidate, Thiru Vignarajah, was pulled over by BPD at 1:00am on the 2400 block of Greenmount Avenue for driving without his headlights.[5] A simple traffic stop that normally would last a few minutes, took over an hour as Vignarajah argued back and forth about the legal validity of his stop, which Officer Mark Smith’s BWC recorded.[6] When Sgt. Olufemi Akinwande later arrived at the scene, Vignarajah asked if the officer’s BWC was on to which the Sgt. replied it was, only to have Vignarajah then ask the Sgt. to turn off the BWC which again the Sgt. complied with – a clear violation of BPD policy.[7] The manual provided to BPD officers states scenarios where the BWC can be turned off. Those exceptions “involve protecting the identity of crime victims or witnesses, confidential informants or people who may want to offer information on a crime without implicating themselves.”[8] “Once recording with a [body-worn camera] has been initiated, members shall not end the recording until … the event or encounter has fully concluded,” the policy states. “When in doubt, members shall continue to record the interaction if it is reasonable to do so.”[9]

This begs the question of whether Vignarajah’s request to stop the BWC fits any exception stated in the manual. When Vignarajah was asked about whether turning off the BWC was wrong, he stated it was not, further “[b]ody-worn cameras are an incredibly important part of what we do here in Baltimore. Built into the guidelines is some commonsense judgment and discretion that officers are permitted to use in the field.”[10]

BWC and all the benefits that come with this type of equipment can only be used adequately if the rules apply to everyone and anyone, regardless of their status in the community. Thus far, BWC has been beneficial for both prosecutors and defenses attorneys in figuring out what actually happened in a case, take the footage from officer Amy Caprio as a prime example.[11] Due to her tragic death, Officer Caprio was not able to write down a statement of facts in regards to her encounter with Dawnta Harris before he took her life by running her over during a burglary of a local Parkville house.[12] Police stated her BWC footage was a key piece of evidence when it came to prosecuting Harris.[13] Imagine if the BWC was not on, or if Harris had asked for the camera to be turned off. A farfetched comparison yes, but take the circumstances and apply it to Vignarajah’s situation.

Vignarajah stated he was in the Greenmount area at 1 a.m. because he was giving a tour of the area where he prosecuted numerous cases involving gang violence to a young lady.[14] He even questions the fact that the officers are 600 officers down, yet are pulling him over for a headlight, that he said he had on.[15] Clearly a dangerous area in Baltimore, so why turn off the BWC? If the BWC gets turned off and something happens to an officer or Vignarajah, whose story do we believe?

BWC promotes safety, accountability and transparency.[16] Just like any other law with an exception we should just obey those strict exceptions. A citizen, especially a political figure who knows the law, should not be able to say the guidelines were meant to allow officers to use common sense and discretion. Had this encounter been any other citizen I do not believe the outcome would be the same. BWC have had such a great impact on the community we should strive to keep it that way and adhere to all the guidelines mandated by the BWC policy, regardless of prominence.

Jessica Rubin is a third-year law student at University of Baltimore and will graduate in May 2020. Jessica got her bachelor’s degree in criminology and psychology from Florida State University. During her time at University of Baltimore, Jessica was a student attorney with the Mental Health Clinic where she represented patients in involuntary civil commitment hearings at the Sheppard Pratt psychiatric hospital. Jessica currently works as a criminal defense law clerk at Bates & Garcia LLC in Baltimore City.

[1] Baltimore Police Department, Body Worn Cameras Basics, BALT. POLICE DEPT., (last visited Jan. 28, 2020) https://www.baltimorepolice.org/transparency/body-worn-cameras.

[2] Id.

[3] Id.

[4] https://www.baltimorepolice.org/sites/default/files/Policies/824_Body_Worn_Cameras.pdf.

[5] Phillip Jackson & Kevin Rector, Vignarajah asked Baltimore police to turn off video during a late night Should they have complied?, BALTIMORE SUN, Jan. 25, 2020 https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/bs-md-ci-cr-body-camera-baltimore-police-20200125-sc4jbunsanhb3hgusujulzmpja-story.html.

[6] Id.

[7] Id.

[8] Id.

[9] Id.

[10] Jayne Miller, Traffic stop under review after mayoral candidate requested camera be turned off, WBAL TV, Jan. 21, 2020 https://www.wbaltv.com/article/traffic-stop-under-review-after-mayoral-candidate-thiru-vignarajah-requested-camera-be-turned-off/30610875.

[11] Wayne Carter Jr. & David Anderson, Aberdeen Police begin wearing body camera, BALTIMORE SUN, Aug. 27, 2019. https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/harford/aegis/cng-ag-aberdeen-body-cameras-20190823-5iv7akuaonaadmvlvmngng3k3i-story.html.

[12] Id.

[13] Id.

[14] Luke Broadwater & Talia Richman, Video of late-night traffic stop shows Baltimore mayoral candidate Thiru Vignarajah drove on suspended tags, BALTIMORE SUN, Jan. 20, 2020 https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/bs-md-pol-thiru-traffic-stop-20200120-xkfzi6ahozgbdp3xyovvvpgbnm-story.html.

[15] Id.

[16] Baltimore Police Department, Body Worn Cameras Basics, BALT. POLICE DEPT., (last visited Jan. 28, 2020) https://www.baltimorepolice.org/transparency/body-worn-cameras.