Law enf. body worn cameras

AN ACT Relating to the use of body worn cameras by law 1
enforcement officers; amending RCW 10.109.010, 10.109.020, and 2
10.109.030; adding new sections to chapter 43.101 RCW; adding a new 3
chapter to Title 10 RCW; providing an effective date; and providing 4
an expiration date. 5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:6
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. This act may be known and cited as the law 7
enforcement body worn camera act.8
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The legislature finds that public trust in 9
law enforcement is strengthened by transparency and accountability, 10
and that body worn cameras provide an objective record of law 11
enforcement interactions, protect both officers and the public, and 12
aid in accurate investigations and judicial proceedings.13
Therefore, the legislature intends to establish a uniform 14
statewide standard requiring all law enforcement officers to activate 15
their body worn cameras during all law enforcement encounters and 16
responses to incidents, ensuring continuous and reliable recordings 17
of public interactions. 18
H-3012.1
HOUSE BILL 2644
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Simmons, Hill, and Pollet
Read first time 01/23/26. Referred to Committee on Civil Rights &
Judiciary.
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NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The definitions in this section apply 1
throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires 2
otherwise.3
(1) "Body worn camera" means a video and sound recording device 4
attached to the uniform or eyewear of a law enforcement officer that 5
records the officer's interactions and activities while in the course 6
of the officer's official duties. 7
(2) "Incident" means any situation where a law enforcement 8
officer is dispatched, responds, or becomes involved, including but 9
not limited to enforcement actions, investigations, traffic stops, 10
calls for service, detentions, and arrests. 11
(3) "Law enforcement agency" means a general authority Washington 12
law enforcement agency as defined in RCW 10.93.020.13
(4) "Law enforcement officer" means a general authority 14
Washington peace officer as defined in RCW 10.93.020.15
(5) "Public interaction" means any contact between a law 16
enforcement officer and a member of the public, whether initiated by 17
the officer or the individual. 18
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) Beginning July 1, 2027, each law 19
enforcement officer in the state must be equipped with and activate a 20
body worn camera prior to arriving at the scene of an incident, or 21
prior to initiating an interaction with a member of the public, 22
whichever occurs first.23
(2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, the 24
body worn camera must remain activated until the incident or 25
interaction has fully concluded, including by remaining activated 26
throughout any transportation of detainees or suspects.27
(3)(a) Deactivating the body worn camera is authorized only under 28
the following circumstances: 29
(i) Interactions involving a confidential informant or undercover 30
officer where recording the interaction may reveal the informant or 31
officer's identity; or 32
(ii) During personal breaks, administrative discussions, or when 33
the law enforcement officer is not engaged in law enforcement 34
activity. 35
(b) If the body worn camera is deactivated for any reason under 36
(a) of this subsection, the law enforcement officer must verbally 37
record the justification prior to deactivation, and reactivate the 38
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body worn camera immediately upon reengagement in any law enforcement 1
activity. 2
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) Beginning July 1, 2027, each law 3
enforcement agency in the state must store the body worn camera 4
recordings of the agency's officers using secure digital evidence 5
systems compliant with all applicable data security standards under 6
state law.7
(2)(a) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, each body 8
worn camera recording must be retained for a minimum of 90 days from 9
the date of the recording. 10
(b) Body worn camera recordings must be retained for a minimum of 11
three years from the date of the recording in cases involving any of 12
the following: 13
(i) Use of force by a law enforcement officer;14
(ii) An arrest or detention; or 15
(iii) A complaint or investigation involving a law enforcement 16
officer's conduct. 17
(3) Unauthorized access, alteration, or deletion of body worn 18
camera recordings is prohibited and subject to disciplinary action by 19
the employing law enforcement agency, in addition to any other 20
penalties provided under state law. 21
(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting any 22
law enforcement agency from retaining body worn camera recordings for 23
a longer period than the minimum requirements described in subsection 24
(2) of this section. 25
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. By July 1, 2027, each law enforcement 26
agency in the state must establish or update its policies regarding 27
the use of body worn cameras to ensure compliance with the provisions 28
of this chapter. The policies must, at a minimum, address the 29
following:30
(1) When a body worn camera must be activated and deactivated, 31
and when a law enforcement officer has the discretion to activate and 32
deactivate the body worn camera; 33
(2) How a law enforcement officer is to respond to circumstances 34
when it would be reasonably anticipated that a person may be 35
unwilling or less willing to communicate with an officer who is 36
recording the communication with a body worn camera;37
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(3) How a law enforcement officer will document when and why a 1
body worn camera was deactivated prior to the conclusion of an 2
interaction with a member of the public while conducting official law 3
enforcement duties; 4
(4) How, and under what circumstances, a law enforcement officer 5
is to inform a member of the public that he or she is being recorded, 6
including in situations where the person is a non-English speaker or 7
has limited English proficiency, or where the person is deaf or hard 8
of hearing; 9
(5) What disciplinary actions, up to and including suspension of 10
termination, a law enforcement officer will be subject to if the 11
officer violates a provision of this chapter or agency policy;12
(6) How law enforcement officers are to be trained on body worn 13
camera usage and how frequently the training is to be reviewed or 14
renewed; and 15
(7) Retention guidelines and security rules to protect data 16
collected and stored from body worn cameras. 17
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. A person who is the subject of an incident 18
or public interaction captured by a body worn camera may request a 19
copy of the relevant recording at no cost, except as prohibited under 20
RCW 42.56.240 or any other applicable state law.21
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. The state of Washington fully occupies and 22
preempts the entire field of requiring the use of body worn cameras 23
by general authority Washington peace officers. Cities, towns, and 24
counties or other municipalities may enact only those laws and 25
ordinances relating to the use of body worn cameras by general 26
authority Washington peace officers that are consistent with this 27
chapter. Local laws and ordinances that are inconsistent with the 28
requirements of state law shall not be enacted and are preempted and 29
repealed, regardless of the nature of the code, charter, or home rule 30
status of the city, town, county, or municipality.31
Sec. 9. RCW 10.109.010 and 2018 c 285 s 2 are each amended to 32
read as follows: 33
(1) A limited authority Washington law enforcement agency or 34
corrections agency that deploys body worn cameras must establish 35
policies regarding the use of the cameras. The policies must, at a 36
minimum, address: 37
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(a) When a body worn camera must be activated and deactivated, 1
and when a law enforcement or corrections officer has the discretion 2
to activate and deactivate the body worn camera; 3
(b) How a law enforcement or corrections officer is to respond to 4
circumstances when it would be reasonably anticipated that a person 5
may be unwilling or less willing to communicate with an officer who 6
is recording the communication with a body worn camera;7
(c) How a law enforcement or corrections officer will document 8
when and why a body worn camera was deactivated prior to the 9
conclusion of an interaction with a member of the public while 10
conducting official law enforcement or corrections business;11
(d) How, and under what circumstances, a law enforcement or 12
corrections officer is to inform a member of the public that he or 13
she is being recorded, including in situations where the person is a 14
non-English speaker or has limited English proficiency, or where the 15
person is deaf or hard of hearing; 16
(e) How officers are to be trained on body worn camera usage and 17
how frequently the training is to be reviewed or renewed; and18
(f) Security rules to protect data collected and stored from body 19
worn cameras. 20
(2) A limited authority Washington law enforcement agency or 21
corrections agency that deploys body worn cameras before ((June 9, 22
2016)) the effective date of this section , must establish the 23
policies within ((one hundred twenty )) 120 days of ((June 9, 2016 )) 24
the effective date of this section . A limited authority Washington 25
law enforcement agency or corrections agency that deploys body worn 26
cameras on or after ((June 9, 2016 )) the effective date of this 27
section, must establish the policies before deploying body worn 28
cameras. 29
Sec. 10. RCW 10.109.020 and 2016 c 163 s 6 are each amended to 30
read as follows: 31
For a city or town that is not deploying body worn cameras on 32
((June 9, 2016 )) the effective date of this section , a legislative 33
authority of a city or town is strongly encouraged to adopt an 34
ordinance or resolution authorizing the use of body worn cameras 35
prior to their use by a limited authority Washington law enforcement 36
agency or a corrections agency. Any ordinance or resolution 37
authorizing the use of body worn cameras should identify a community 38
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involvement process for providing input into the development of 1
operational policies governing the use of body worn cameras.2
Sec. 11. RCW 10.109.030 and 2018 c 285 s 3 are each amended to 3
read as follows: 4
For state and local agencies, a body worn camera may only be used 5
by officers employed by a general authority Washington law 6
enforcement agency as defined in RCW 10.93.020, ((any officer 7
employed by the department of corrections )) officers employed by a 8
limited authority Washington law enforcement agency as defined in RCW 9
10.93.020, and personnel for jails as defined in RCW 70.48.020 and 10
detention facilities as defined in RCW 13.40.020. The use of body 11
worn cameras by officers employed by a general authority Washington 12
law enforcement agency is subject to the requirements of sections 1 13
through 8 of this act.14
NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. A new section is added to chapter 43.101 15
RCW to read as follows: 16
(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this 17
specific purpose, the commission shall distribute funding to local 18
law enforcement agencies to purchase and maintain body worn camera 19
equipment and safe and secure data storage systems.20
(2) Beginning July 1, 2027, and every year thereafter, the 21
commission shall submit a report to the fiscal committees of the 22
legislature detailing the name of each law enforcement agency that 23
received funding, and the amount of funding distributed to each 24
agency. 25
NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. A new section is added to chapter 43.101 26
RCW to read as follows: 27
(1) The commission shall monitor law enforcement agency 28
compliance with the provisions of sections 4 through 6 of this act 29
and, by December 1, 2027, submit a report to the appropriate 30
committees of the legislature detailing whether each local law 31
enforcement agency in the state has achieved compliance, including 32
whether each agency has: 33
(a) Fully equipped its law enforcement officers with body worn 34
cameras; 35
(b) Implemented a system to safely and securely store collected 36
recording; and 37
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(c) Established or updated its body worn camera policies as 1
described under section 6 of this act. 2
(2) This section expires July 1, 2028. 3
NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. Sections 1 through 8 of this act 4
constitute a new chapter in Title 10 RCW.5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 15. Sections 4 through 6 and 8 through 11 of 6
this act takes effect July 1, 2027.7
NEW SECTION. Sec. 16. If any provision of this act or its 8
application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the 9
remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other 10
persons or circumstances is not affected.11
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