According to Illinois law, the body-worn camera must be turned on at all times when an on-duty, uniformed police officer is responding to a call for service or engaged in law enforcement activities. Certain exceptions do apply and can be found in the law.

It is dependent upon the circumstances. If you are the victim or witness of a crime, you have a right to ask the officer to stop recording. However, even in those situations, an officer may continue to record or start recording again if there are exigent circumstances or the officer has a reasonable suspicion that you may be involved in a crime.

If an officer is conducting official business and has a legal right to be present, they can capture video utilizing their body-worn camera. This includes private property.

Geneva Police Department policy, along with Illinois law, specifies that the body-worn camera must be worn on the police officer’s outermost garment so that it will be clearly visible to the public. If you encounter a police officer who is responding to a call for service or engaged in other official police activity, you are likely being recorded.

By law, recordings made on a body-worn camera must be retained for 90 days. Videos will be stored through a secure, cloud-based service in compliance with Federal Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) standards. After 90 days, all recordings must be destroyed unless they are flagged as being part of a criminal, civil, or administrative investigation. Flagged recordings are kept indefinitely, or until the department receives a court order from a judge ordering their destruction.

All recorded media, images, and audio are the property of the Geneva Police Department. state law and department policy outline who within the department can access body-worn camera footage and when.

The release of body-worn camera footage is governed by Illinois law. Any public request for videos will be vetted with the City’s legal team and FOIA officers to determine whether the department has a legal obligation to release the footage.

Before being assigned a body-worn camera, all officers must attend mandatory training that covers the use of the body-worn camera system, state law, and department policy.

The Geneva Police Department's body-worn camera policy is available to the public, along with the applicable state law.