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13 Florida Police agencies are already using body cameras…9 more are in the pilot stage of adopting them, but each agency is setting its own guidelines, which lawmakers hope to change.

At their best, body cameras show what an officer is seeing and it eliminates questions about a case. And while more than a dozen agencies are using them in Florida, there are no statewide guidelines on who, how, or when they can be worn.

Legislation approved by he Senate Criminal Justice Committee hopes to provide those answers. Among the issues discussed: What happens to the accidental video shot during a coffee break. John Rivera of the Police Benevolent Association says the policy is unclear.

“The cafe latte here..we’re going to do it this way. I can’t tell you that here today.”

A strange coalition of police who packed the room, civil rights advocates, and even public defenders like the legislation. Bob Dillinger is thePublic Defender for the 6th Circuit which includes Pasco and Pinellas counties. “We wanted a consistent policy on these body cameras because of the privacy issues that are in front of all of us.”

Pasco County says  people are already protected by policies it has in place. Jeremiah Hawkes is the Pasco County Sheriff’s Legal Advisor. Q:”How long are the videos kept?”

“It depends on what type of video it is. If its for a misdemeanor, w’e’ll keep it for whatever the statute of limitations is for a misdemeanor, so two years.  For certain felonies, we’ll keep it longer. If its related to a homicide or sex case we’ll keep it indefinitely.”

The guidelines legislation is one of two bills dealing with this new technology…a second is much more troubling for civil rights advocates.

The second bill gives almost compete control of who sees what and when to police says the ACLU’s Michelle Richardson. “Even is someone is shot and killed by a police officer, the so called privacy considerations are going to trump the publics right to know.”

While civil rights advocates worry about cover ups with the second piece of legislation, Police are supporting both bills.