Washington, DC – Attorney General Karl A. Racine today welcomed a new law that gives the District one of the nation’s most comprehensive, progressive and transparent programs for body-worn cameras on Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers. In particular, Attorney General Racine praised Ward 5 Councilmember and Committee on the Judiciary Chairman Kenyan R. McDuffie for his leadership in bringing the legislation to fruition.

The Mayor signed the Body-Worn Camera Program Regulations Amendment Act of 2015 into law today.

“Councilmember McDuffie was the indispensable intellectual and political force behind ensuring that the District would set a national standard for police body cameras,” Attorney General Racine said. “Not only does this law create a body-camera program that is arguably the country’s most expansive, but it also strikes a careful balance between transparency, accountability, and protecting citizens’ privacy and safety. I commend Councilmember McDuffie, his staff, his Council colleagues, and the advocates who have worked so hard to produce this new law.”

The program enabled by the legislation, proposed earlier this year, will outfit approximately 2,800 MPD officers with body-worn cameras by the spring – an expansion from a pilot program that had outfitted approximately 400 officers with the devices. The law makes most of the footage from the cameras available to the public, exempting some sensitive footage (such as video involving incidents of domestic violence or sexual assault) from public accessibility.