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BILL # HB 4092 |
TITLE: peace officers; cameras; disclosures; recordings |
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SPONSOR: Cavero |
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PREPARED BY: Jordan Johnston |
STATUS: As Introduced |
The bill would require all local law enforcement agencies and the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to provide body-worn cameras to each of their certified peace officers, on or before July 1, 2028. The bill further provides rules and procedures for peace officers wearing body cameras, including retention, redaction, and release of body camera footage.
Estimated Impact
We estimate that the bill would not have a fiscal impact on the state as DPS already operates a body-worn camera program for all DPS certified peace officers. We estimate the bill may increase costs, beginning in FY 2028, to local governments depending on whether they currently have body-worn camera programs and their current policies align with the requirements in the bill. We lack sufficient information to estimate the total cost to local law enforcement.
We asked the Arizona League of Cities and Towns for their estimated impact of the bill and received a preliminary response. The League shared that one mid-sized city that adopted a body camera program for their peace officers had annual costs of about $16,000 per employee for 200 employees (or $3.2 million ongoing), which includes equipment, storage, management, retention, and public records compliance costs.
We asked the Arizona Association of Counties for their estimated impact of the bill and received responses from all 15 county sheriffs. All of the responding counties stated that their peace officers already have body cameras, but some counties do not have body cameras for their detention officers. Some counties also noted additional personnel, equipment, and software licensing costs from the new redaction requirements.
Our estimate assumes the following:
1) In the FY 2022 budget, DPS was appropriated $13.8 million from the General Fund to implement a full body worn camera program for all their certified peace officers. The funding included ongoing funding of $6.9 million for replacement and maintenance of the body cameras and 29 FTE positions to manage, administer, and perform IT support for the body camera program. We assume this funding is sufficient to cover all the provisions under the bill.
2) A 2020 study by a local news outlet surveyed 77 law enforcement agencies statewide and determined that 56 already have full body worn camera programs, 9 had partial programs, and 12 did not have body camera programs. We do not believe this survey represents the totality of law enforcement agencies in the state. The number of law enforcement agencies with a body camera program has likely risen since the 2020 survey.
3) According to DPS, the equipment costs were approximately $8,300 per peace officer (body cameras, vehicle light bar trigger, in-car access points, docking stations, and maintenance/replacement service package). Of this amount, the ongoing costs were about $3,000 per peace officer.
4) The bill may further result in additional costs to law enforcement agencies for the new rules and procedures on body camera usage, including retention, redaction, and release of body camera footage.
5) As such, we estimate local governments will incur costs from this bill depending not only on whether the law enforcement agency has a body camera program, but also the policies and procedures in place for these body camera programs.
2/18/26