Body Worn Cameras

Body Worn Camera

The Burlington Police Department places value on transparency and professionalism. The Department is a trauma Informed police agency and is concerned with the psychological welfare of everyone in our community. Body-worn camera footage can include upsetting or traumatic images. Body-worn cameras work in a unique way to capture video for evidentiary purposes. When an officer turns on the camera, it immediately begins to record audio and video of the current event. It also goes back and captures 30 seconds of video only that temporarily records in a buffer space. That first 30 seconds of video plays at the beginning of each recording without audio. This is a standard function of body-worn cameras.

Body-worn camera footage is released pursuant to a Superior Court Order.

Video Disclosure Request for Body Worn Camera

State law provides a process to obtain a copy of law enforcement recordings. Please see N.C.G.S. §132-1.4A. In order to obtain a COPY of a recording, you must first file a “Petition for Release of Custodial Law Enforcement Agency Recording,” which is a court pleading, and set the matter down for a hearing. A copy of the petition can be found at Petition For Release Of Custodial Law Enforcement Agency Recording.

Video recordings in the custody of a law enforcement agency may be disclosed only to the following:

  1. A person whose image or voice is in the recording.
  2. A personal representative of an adult person whose image or voice is in the recording, if the adult person has consented to the disclosure (notarization of consent is required).
  3. A personal representative of a minor or of an adult person under lawful guardianship whose image or voice is in the recording (guardianship documentation is required).
  4. A personal representative of a deceased person whose image or voice is in the recording.
  5. A personal representative of an adult person who is incapacitated and unable to provide consent to disclosure (power of attorney or other legal documentation required).

When disclosing the recording, the law enforcement agency will only disclose only those portions of the recording that are relevant to the person’s request. A person who receives disclosure pursuant to this subsection shall not record or copy the recording.

NOTE:  A personal representative is defined as a parent, court-appointed guardian, spouse, or attorney licensed North Carolina attorney of a person whose image or voice is in the recording. If a person whose image or voice is in the recording is deceased, the term also means the personal representative of the estate of the deceased person; the deceased person’s surviving spouse, parent, or adult child; the deceased person’s attorney licensed North Carolina; or the parent or guardian of a surviving minor child of the deceased.

If you meet the criteria above, you may download the Video Disclosure Request form. Once you have completed the form in its entirety you may drop it and all required verification documents necessary at the Burlington Police Department.

Once you have completed the Video Disclosure Request form in its entirety, you may drop it and all required documents to Administration at the Burlington Police Department at 267 W. Front Street. You may also mail the form and documentation to:

Burlington Police Department
Attn: Video Disclosure
PO Box 1358
Burlington, NC 27216

If you have any questions regarding the form, the process, or your qualifications to watch a video, please email those questions to csmith@burlingtonnc.gov or contact the Burlington Police Department by calling 336-229-3500.