3901 RETENTION OF BODY-WORN CAMERA RECORDINGS

3901.1 Unless subject to the requirements of § 3901.2, a BWC recording shall be retained by the Department for not more than ninety (90) calendar days from the date the recording was created. All metadata shall be retained by the Department for not less than five (5) years.

3901.2 The Department shall, through a policy directive, establish and make available on its website retention schedules for BWC recordings that contain the following:

(a) Recordings related to a criminal investigation;

(1) Recordings related to a request from or investigation by the Chairperson or the Council Committee with jurisdiction over the Department.

(b) Recordings involving conduct by a member or civilian employee that is under investigation or the subject of a complaint;

(c) Recordings related to a death investigation;

(d) Recordings that the Department has actual or constructive knowledge may be:

(1) Subject to a civil litigation hold;

(2) Subject to a FOIA request; or

(3) Used for training purposes by the Department; and

(e) Any other category of recordings that the Chief of Police determines should be retained.

SOURCE: Body-Worn Camera Program Amendment Act of 2015, effective March 9, 2016 (D.C. Law 21-0083; 63 DCR 774 (January 22, 2016)); as amended by the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2021, effective April 21, 2023 (D.C. Law 24-345; 70 DCR 000953 (January 27, 2023)).