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Newport News Police Department
K. Documentation
1. Officers will note in all incident-based reports (IBRs), arrests, and other reports when a body-worn
camera recording was made associated with that incident, to include the body-worn camera
identifier name.
2. If an officer believes that a recorded contact may lead to a citizen complaint, they will bring the
recording to the attention of their supervisor as soon as possible. If no IBR or supplement report is
prepared for a related event, the contact details will be documented in writing.
3. If circumstances prevent an officer from recording a contact or a recording is terminated early, then
this must be noted in all written reports or CAD notes if no IBR was generated) along with a brief
explanation of the circumstances.
4. Court and Evidentiary Video Files
a. When body-worn camera video files are held for court and/or evidentiary purposes, the officer
will:
1) Include that information in the Evidence.com submission.
2) Denote the video in the narrative portion of the associated IBR report; and
3) Check the "Axon Video" box in the IBR report.
b. If a body-worn camera unit is involved in an auto crash, the officer should put the camera into
event mode if not already recording. If a body-worn camera unit records a police vehicle involved
in a vehicle crash, the involved officer's supervisor shall ensure the appropriate reports have a
notation in the narrative section indicating the video capture and shall ensure video associated
with any vehicle crash is accurately categorized in Evidence.com as "Traffic Crash."
c. Anytime a body-worn camera unit has recorded an arrest, the arrest report shall indicate that an
A/V recorded file of the arrest exists, and the prosecutor's office shall be so notified.
IV. VIDEO RETENTION
A. Each event must be categorized according to event type for proper retention. The officer has four
calendar days from the recorded event to categorize each video unless a supervisor requires the
categorization sooner.
B. Identification of Incident in Evidence.com.
1. In the "ID" section, the officer will note the IBR or accident number connected to the report. If the
report does not have an IBR (i.e., traffic summons, DUI) or an accident number, the officer will leave
the "ID" section blank.
2. The ID section will be the 9-digit incident report number or 11-digit accident number.
3. In the "TITLE" section, the suspect's name is entered as "Last, First."
4. If there is no name associated with the video recording, use the location of the call.
5. If needed for clarity, the name and location may both be entered.
6. If multiple arrests are recorded on one video, the officer will use the suspect's name with the most
serious offense.
C. No person shall tamper with, or alter, the body-worn camera data except as authorized by this policy.
D. The retention period for body-worn camera recordings will conform with the Virginia Records Retention
Act (Virginia Records Retention Schedule, General Schedule Virginia Localities, GS-17).
E. For retention purposes, body-worn camera recordings relating to incidents where criminal charges are
filed are considered part of the case file associated with the case. They are retained following those
Virginia Retention Schedule case guidelines.
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