In 2019 the NLCRPD was the first suburban police agency in Lancaster County to adopt and use body worn cameras (BWC). Since that time, the NLCRPD has integrated an array of technology into a single platform that captures police and public interactions, and also provides evidence in criminal prosecutions. Attached to this release is a PDF file depicting the NLCRPD Technology plan designed to further the agency documentation of police / citizen encounters.

In recent weeks the NLCRPD responded to the inquiries of several media outlets in regard to the use of audio and video capture of police / citizen encounters and custodial interview requirements. This series of inquiries followed publication of findings from the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law released a new report on law enforcement interrogation policies in Pennsylvania, the first of its kind to review Pennsylvania interrogation practices. https://www.law.upenn.edu/institutes/quattronecenter/reports/videotaping...

While the NLCRPD had pre-existing policy guidance in place and responded to the survey for the study captioned above, we found that NLCRPD agency written directives covering the interview and interrogation process needed clarification and more exacting guidance. While many of the desired outcomes already existed within NLCRPD policy for BWC/ MVR/ and other applications. It was determined the NLCRPD needed to draft and adopt a written directive that was focused on bringing all of the desired outcomes for interviews and custodial interrogations into a specific written directive. This new directive incorporates best practices and recommendations from criminal justice stakeholders. The specific written directive is attached to this release and is public facing at nlcrpd.org under the policy tab.