In a response to Santa Barbara County Grand Jury recommendations. the Santa Barbara Police Department is saying it’s close to installing video cameras in all of its patrol cars.
The Police Department is scheduled to present an update on the issue to the City Council this week.
But, in a letter to the Grand Jury, Police Department officials say some other aspects of their recommendations are inappropriate, or impractical. The report had called on the police department to make tapes of all stops accessible to the public, and to provide written and or verbal notification that a camera was in use.
The department also cited as impractical a proposal for the department to notify parents of juveniles stopped by police that recordings of the stops were available. In the letter to the Grand Jury, the department says that in incidents where fines, or prosecution is involved, defendants have the right to access the recordings.
