No. MTPD members are mandated to use the MTPD-issued body-worn cameras for recording police business or incidents involving the public.
Body-Worn Camera Program
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Metro Transit Police Department (MTPD)
Introduction by Metro Transit Police Interim Chief Stephen Boehm
The mission of the Metro Transit Police Department (MTPD) is to protect Metro customers, personnel, transit facilities, and revenue by providing law enforcement and public safety services.
MTPD rolled out a new Body-Worn Camera Program, with full deployment to all officers completed in summer 2023. Our Body-Worn Camera Program supplements the more than 30,000 cameras Metro has throughout our rail, bus, and paratransit system.
The use of body-worn cameras helps us further our mission to protect the public and enforce the law by recording enforcement activities in the line of duty. This includes actions, conditions, and statements that occur during encounters, traffic stops, detentions, and arrests.
Transparency is a core value for MTPD, and we are committed to every person's safety.
In your service, Interim Chief Boehm
Body-Worn Cameras
The body-worn camera is a device with internal memory for storage of recorded audio and video. It is designed to be worn on outside clothing or otherwise secured to law enforcement or security officers to capture a forward-facing view. Video and audio recording can then be initiated by the officer at any time and includes a prerecording feature. Recorded evidence is later downloaded to a secure police server for review by law enforcement investigators if needed.
There are many documented benefits of law enforcement using body-worn cameras, including case studies nationally and internationally that link body-worn cameras to reductions in crime, police-generated incidents, and assaults on police officers. Body-worn cameras are designed for the safety of the officer and the public.
Metro's body-worn camera policy (MTPD General Order 422) can be found here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Deployment of body-worn cameras for MTPD officers began in March 2023, and all officers were trained and had their new devices operational by summer of 2023.
MTPD members at the rank officer, sergeant, and lieutenant (and/or operational civilian equivalent) are issued a body-worn camera and the camera is worn when working in an operational assignment.
Prior to being issued a body-worn camera, MTPD members will be required to successfully complete training related to the operation of the device and MTPD policy around the Body-Worn Camera Program.
Body-worn cameras are to be worn for the entire shift by MTPD public-facing police officers.
MTPD officers are required to inform any person, absent exigent circumstances, at the start of any recording, that the audio and video of the situation is being recorded by the officer's body-worn camera.
To submit a request for Body Worn Camera (BWC) video, please complete a BWC Video Request Form and submit it to MTPD's Body Worn Camera Unit at MTPDBWC_Request@wmata.com.
Approval of External BWC Requests
External non-law enforcement / prosecutorial requests for BWC videos will only be processed upon receipt of a completed MTPD Body Worn Camera Request Form. Each form will only be used to process one incident. Incomplete forms will be sent back to requestors for completion and re-submission. The MTPD BWC Unit will require a notarized release in order to obtain BWC video, or an in-person display of a government issued ID to confirm the identity of the requestor. In the case of juveniles, who are the subject of BWC recordings, only the parent or legal guardian may receive video; the parent or guardian must produce a birth certificate or court order to prove relationship.
In the regular course of business, MTPD will review every non-law enforcement external request for Body Worn Camera (BWC) video when the request is submitted in accordance with MTPD’s process posted on its website.
If Requestor Is Not Subject of Video
In the regular course of business, and on a case-by-case determination, MTPD releases BWC video, that may include redactions, to non-law-enforcement external requestors who are not the subject of the BWC video, unless the BWC video involves or pertains to one of the following categories:
- Open law enforcement matters with any law enforcement agency;
- Sensitive Security Information (“SSI”);
- Critical Infrastructure Information (“CII”);
- Matters involving juveniles;
- Domestic violence, sexual assaults, child abuse, or child sexual abuse;
- Witness statements where release would entail an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy or where release could reasonably be expected to endanger the witnesses’ life or safety;
- Confidential Informants; and/or
- Graphic or gruesome scenes of death, injuries, nudity, or traumatic events.
If Requestor Is Subject of Video
For non-law enforcement external requestors who are either the subject of the BWC video, or the legal representatives of the subject of the BWC video, MTPD may, in its discretion, release the BWC video, that may include redactions, which relate to categories 4, 5, 6, and/or 8 (above) if it determines that:
- there is good cause for the release;
- there would be no unwarranted invasion of personal privacy for other subjects of the BWC video; and
- release would not pose any unreasonable risk of endangering the life or safety of other subjects of the BWC video
The General Manager or Chief of Police may also, in their discretion, withhold or release any BWC video, that may include redactions, otherwise subject to these categories.
If you are also requesting non-video records, please submit a separate PARP request via email, mail, or facsimile (fax):
By email: | PARP@wmata.com |
By mail: | Office of General Counsel 7E |
By fax: | (202) 962-2550 |
The BWC program serves as a supplement to Metro's robust CCTV system. Body-worn cameras are an important tool for law enforcement agencies, with the added benefit of providing increased transparency in law enforcement-community interactions, while increasing public trust in policing. The mission of the MTPD is to protect customers, personnel, transit facilities, and revenue by providing law enforcement and public safety services. The Body-Worn Camera Program is an important resource in helping MTPD fulfill that mission.
Metro received an initial federal grant of over $900,000 to implement the Body-Worn Camera Program; it is anticipated that the program will cost approximately $7 million over the next five years (2024-2028), which includes hiring staff to support the project.
Public-facing members of the rank of Lieutenant and below will be issued body-worn cameras.
MTPD will investigate any failures to activate the cameras.
Recordings will be maintained pursuant to the retention schedule outlined in Metro's new policy (MTPD General Order 422).
No. Officers will not record during their entire shifts. Generally, they will activate their body-worn cameras for incidents, investigations, and arrests; they will also have some limited discretion to activate.
MTPD officers, sergeants and lieutenants will have mandatory training before being assigned a body-worn camera. At the start of the program, Metro trained and equipped approximately 315 officers with body-worn cameras.
The training was provided in collaboration between the MTPD and the device manufacturer. The training lasted between 2-4 hours and covered both operation of the device, as well as Metro's policies around usage.