Police CAMERA Act of 2025
Sponsored By: Representative Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9]
Introduced
Summary
Federal matching grants for body-worn cameras would create a Justice Department program to help states, local governments, and Indian tribes buy or lease body-worn cameras and cover data security, storage, and training. It ties grant awards to rules on privacy, data handling, and reporting.
Show full summary
- Law enforcement agencies: Could receive two-year grants to purchase or lease body-worn cameras and to fund training, data storage, maintenance, and program implementation. The federal share is capped at 75 percent and the Director may waive matching requirements for fiscal hardship.
- Communities, victims, and courts: Grantees must develop policies with community input, publish protocols, allow people to file complaints, limit facial recognition use to serious cases with judicial authorization, and report use-of-force and complaint data disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, and age.
- Federal oversight and evaluation: The Director would create a national reporting system and a Body-Worn Camera Training Toolkit, require audits and annual progress reports, and commission a study with recommendations to Congress. The measure allocates $30 million from FY2026–FY2028 for the program.
*Would increase federal spending by about $30 million from 2026–2028 to fund grants and program oversight.*
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Grants to buy police body cameras
If enacted, the federal government would offer two-year grants to States, local governments, and Tribes to buy or lease body-worn cameras for on‑patrol officers. Half the money would be paid at award, and half after the agency shows it met required steps. The grants could also pay for training and for storing, maintaining, and securing footage, plus setting required policies. A chief executive would need to apply to the Director. The Director would publish application rules within 90 days of enactment.
Privacy and rules for body‑cam footage
If enacted, agencies that take these grants would have to write and publish camera policies with community input before using cameras. Policies would cover when to record, victim or witness consent for interviews, and limits on facial recognition with court approval only for serious threats or crimes, with double checks. Agencies would need to secure, log, and limit access to stored video, block unauthorized viewing, minimize unrelated recording, and test storage security regularly. Use and sharing of footage would be limited to investigations, reasonable‑suspicion evidence searches, or narrow training, with strict limits on transfers. Agencies would report data on use of force, complaints, and footage use (by race, ethnicity, gender, and age) into a standardized national system and database the Director would set up, and allow the public to file complaints about misuse.
Study on how body cams work
If enacted, within two years after all grants are awarded, the Director would study how body‑worn cameras affect force, complaints, safety, evidence, privacy, and facial recognition limits. The Director would send Congress a report with any policy recommendations within 180 days after the study ends.
Training and toolkit for camera programs
If enacted, the Director would create and maintain a toolkit to help police and partners run body‑camera programs. It would include training, model policies, templates, best practices, and research gathered from experts nationwide. Agencies could use it to start or improve their programs.
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Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9]
TN • D
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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