SALT LAKE CITY — A pair of state senators said Tuesday that they expect to see at least one bill during the upcoming legislative session that would require all Utah police officers to wear body-mounted cameras.

Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, and Sen. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake City, said state lawmakers are aware of the growing public interest in having video documentation of police activity. Both men believe that interest will likely lead at least one of their colleagues in the state House or Senate to draft a bill requiring body cameras for Utah officers.

"The key question is: Who is going to pay for it?" Dabakis said. "I suggest that probably the state ought to be paying for it and it ought not be done piecemeal with every entity making their own decision."

In recent months body camera video has helped the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office determine that two police officers were legally justified in using deadly force in separate shooting incidents.

In August, prosecutors ruled that West Jordan police officer Ian Adams was justified in shooting Timothy James Peterson, based in part on video from Adams' body cam.

Peterson, 31, had outstanding warrants for his arrest when Adams shot him behind a store at Jordan Landing. Peterson survived the shooting. He was armed with a large knife and had a piece of metal he had bent to look like a gun, with a laser pointer attached to the piece resembling a barrel, according to investigators.

Related Story

Local body camera business sees uptick in demand

Body cameras in recent months have been a hot topic among law enforcement and also the community. Agencies across the state are arming their officers with the video and audio recording device. But the technology is nothing new for one local business. Safety Innovations created the first body camera in the United States in 2005.

In September, video from Salt Lake police officer Bron Cruz's body camera helped investigators determine that his Aug. 11 shooting of Dillon Taylor was a justified use of force. Taylor was not armed — a fact Cruz did not know when he pulled the trigger after the 20-year-old refused several commands to show officers his hands, investigators said.

"I think it's a very important piece of evidence," Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said in September, referring to body-cam video. "It assists everybody to get to the truth in a transparent and objective way."

The Utah Highway Patrol has already said it will equip all 560 troopers with body cams in the next few years. But how much will it cost agencies to store the hours of video generated by their officers?

"It's pretty inexpensive these days," said Pete Ashdown, founder and CEO of XMission, which provides business Internet services, including data storage.

Ashdown said a police department could build a decent storage server for about $2,000.

"We have one that (stores) survelliance of our data center, and it's all HD cameras," Ashdown said. "It can store about a year-and-a-half worth of footage."

In addition to defining how the cameras and video storage will be paid for, Dabakis said any new law should also spell out how long the footage has to be retained and define when the cameras have to be turned on. He said he doesn't expect a bill on the issue to meet much resistance.

"Because (a body cam) takes away the doubt about what happened," Dabakis said, "and most police officers are doing the right thing."

Related topics