As wearable video surveillance continues to be deployed, enterprise security teams in healthcare, retail and more are finding value in improved accountability, transparency and oversight.

The City of Akron Ohio has just passed a law that requires body camera surveillance footage to be made available to the public within seven days if a police officer uses deadly force or causes great bodily harm to an individual.

California could become the largest state to protect civil liberties by banning facial recognition technology in police body cameras. The California State Assembly sent Governor Newsom AB 1215, a proposal by Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) that prohibits law enforcement from equipping body cameras with facial recognition software and other biometric scanners for three years.

Police will soon be able to access surveillance cameras with views from around Springfield, Mass., including the new MGM Springfield casino, Union Station and city schools. Analysts at the Springfield Police Department’s Real-Time Analysis center will be able to use information gleaned from those cameras to provide situational awareness and information to officers in the field.

Under the proposal, homeowners can voluntarily register their security cameras for a new police department database, which would theoretically help police solve more crimes promptly. Through the system, police would remotely gain access into participating homeowners’ digital camera feeds.

Tired of waiting for city funding approval, residents are installing their own cameras or allotting neighborhood funds for additional police-run surveillance cameras in crime-ridden neighborhoods. 

Chicago's network of police cameras has proven more effective in reducing crime in high-crime areas than in low-crime neighborhoods.