In-Car Videotaping

More and more jurisdictions are using in-car videotaping, which includes audio and video recording, as a valuable tool in DWI arrests. There’s widespread agreement that cameras can protect the rights of both police and citizens, exonerating officers of false complaints and monitoring police behavior. An in-car video camera enables the officer to record the actions of the vehicle prior to the stop as well as the performance of the DWI suspect on field sobriety tests. Prosecutors report DWI offenders often will plead guilty after watching a video of their arrest. These admissions of guilt reduce plea-bargain attempts and requests for costly jury trials. At the same time, police officers must be trained as to how to testify about the videotape of the hardcore drunk driver, recognizing the hardcore do not always appear as drunk as they are.

Many police agencies welcome video cameras as a way to document traffic stops are justified and conducted in compliance with sanctioned policies and procedures. Law enforcement officers frequently use videotape to document the arrest from the initial sighting of a traffic violation through transporting the defendant to jail. This helps establish that the offender was afforded due process and protects the officer as well.

Where Is In-Car Videotaping of DWI Suspects Used?

Law enforcement agencies in all 50 states use some form of mobile videotaping in their cars. According to the National Hardcore Drunk Driver Project survey, 47 states, one territory and the Navajo Nation use in-car videotaping to record DWI investigations as well as other kinds of offenses.

Since 2000, the Justice Department Office of Community-Oriented Policing Services has granted $15 million to state law enforcement agencies nationally to equip 3,563 cruisers with cameras (McMahon 2002).

Texas, Ohio, and Arizona are recognized as having some of the best in-car videotaping programs, with frequent training required. Texas also has mandatory recording of DWI suspects in jurisdictions of over 25,000 people, and each of the state’s 254 counties has some mobile video equipment in their cars (Kuboviak 2002).

How Effective Is In-Car Videotaping of DWI Suspects?

One study (Jones 1998) looked at video cameras’ impact on successful prosecution, time until disposition and implied consent hearing requests. It found in-car videotaping of drunk driving arrests led to more successful prosecution.

Some defense attorneys say video cameras in police cars can actually help them. According to an article in Lawyers Weekly USA (Sept. 17, 2001), attorneys use the tapes to show defendants appeared sober and officers made mistakes conducting the sobriety tests. Defense attorneys are also getting cases dismissed if a camera was not turned on, if the roadside tests weren’t conducted within the camera view or if the tape was lost or erased. While they admit the videotapes can help the prosecution if the defendant is falling down drunk, defense attorneys say such cases are commonly pleaded and if the defendant resists a guilty plea, the tape can help convince him or her to plead.

Video cameras were in about one-third of police cars in the U.S. in 2001, with vendors predicting the number to double by 2004. A 1996 NHTSA survey found 77 percent of the police departments using in-car videotaping had a favorable attitude toward the systems.

Police In-Car Video Camera Evaluation: The IACP is conducting a comprehensive evaluation on the installation, use and impact of police in-car video cameras in 47 state police and highway patrol agencies. This 18-month project, which began in June 2002, will examine and determine the impact of in-car cameras in four critical areas: police officer safety, agency liability, community perceptions of police and police professionalism (International Association of Chiefs of Police 2003).

Where to Go for More Information on In-Car Videotaping

Dam, J.L. Sept. 17, 2001. Drunk driving attorneys use police videotapes to win cases. Lawyers Weekly, USA. Lawyers Weekly, Inc.

International Association of Chiefs of Police. 2001. Traffic Safety in the New Millennium: Strategies for Law Enforcement: A Planning Guide for Law Enforcement Executives, Administrators and Managers. Alexandria, VA: International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Law Enforcement Mobile Video Institute, Inc. website. 2002. http://www.lemvi.com.

Jones, B. January 1998. In-vehicle videotaping of drinking driver traffic stops in Oregon. Accident Analysis and Prevention 31(1): 77–84.

Morrison, K. 2002. Evaluation of In-Car Video Systems. Jacksonville, FL: Institute of Police Technology and Management, University of North Florida.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 1996. In-Vehicle Videotaping of DWI Suspects. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Pavic, B., Stoduto, G., Mann, R.E., Anglin, L., and Vingilis, E. 1997. Fast-track courts and video-cameras as drinking driving countermeasures. In: Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Alcohol Drugs and Traffic Safety, Annecy, France.