Bill 90.

Summary.

The bill establishes a framework for mandatory body camera use by the National Police (Policía Nacional) and the legal treatment of audiovisual recordings. It defines a body camera as a uniform mounted device with a rechargeable battery and local storage, defines drones, and identifies the police ranks covered when performing listed duties. Officers must wear a camera and record public order activities, emergency response, preliminary investigations, surveillance, traffic enforcement, execution of orders, and conflict mediation. These include judicial orders and orders from the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Ministerio Público) or Community Peace Houses (Casas Comunitarias de Paz). Uses of force, calls concerning crimes in progress, specified interactions with individuals, and searches of persons and property must also be recorded. Recording is excluded for sensitive encounters involving confidential informants, victims of sexual offenses, or strip searches, and where it would interfere with sensitive operations.

Recording and storage systems must preserve footage integrity for possible administrative, criminal, civil, or other judicial investigations. Every video must include the exact date, time, and location. Videos are deleted after two years unless needed as evidence in an investigation or judicial proceeding, in which case they are retained until that matter ends. Officers receive periodic training on technical, legal, and ethical matters; implementing regulations set the training interval, while the National Police establishes supervision and audit mechanisms. Officers must inform the public that recording is taking place unless notice would endanger someone or impede an investigation. Consent is not required to start or continue recording.

An event that requires recording must be captured from beginning to end. An officer may turn off a camera at a member of the public’s request, but may continue recording if stopping would be unsafe or inadvisable; the camera cannot be turned off while an alleged perpetrator remains at the scene. In routine matters, officers may review their footage before writing reports or preparing for judicial proceedings. Following police shootings, uses of force, or allegations of misconduct, the supervisor leading the investigation may restrict when officers can view footage, including before they make an official statement.

A police public servant who modifies, conceals, or deletes recordings without a prior lawful order from the Public Prosecutor’s Office, or alters recording and storage systems, is subject to the applicable penalties under the Criminal Code (Código Penal) and administrative dismissal. Recordings are kept in a secure, centralized system accessible only to authorized personnel for investigation, supervision, and officer training. The National Police must provide the Public Prosecutor’s Office, without exception, any video containing evidence related to a criminal case. The bill gives the recordings legal effect in judicial and administrative proceedings and criminal investigations, and requires prosecutors to provide them to defendants.

Citizens may request footage through a form on the National Police website, subject to limits concerning ongoing investigations, privacy, and safety. Audio or visual edits may protect privacy under the personal data protection law; the bill calls for prompt access, provides an option concerning unedited footage for citizens involved in investigations, and restricts requests for videos predominantly showing minors. The National Police must release footage of critical incidents within 30 calendar days, subject to the stated judicial and prior viewing exceptions. Privacy measures may be applied before release, while an unedited version is retained. Drone footage receives the same treatment and legal effect if the drones are internally registered. The bill would take effect in the next fiscal period following promulgation in the Official Gazette. It concerns the National Police, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the Community Peace Houses, and may affect officers, people involved in police encounters, and participants in judicial and administrative proceedings.