Was California's Justice Department the first statewide agency in the US to require its officers to wear body cameras?
In April 2015, California's then-Attorney General Kamala Harris announced plans to "institute a body camera policy for all DOJ special agent personnel conducting field operations." A 2016 statement confirmed the department was providing certain agents with body cameras. This was the first statewide body-cam initiative of its kind, applying only to agents working under the Attorney General and not to local law-enforcement or California Highway Patrol.
By May 2015, nine states (Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Carolina) had enacted laws addressing body cameras. Of these, only South Carolina mandated the use of body cameras by all state law-enforcement agencies. Body cameras are not yet required in all California law-enforcement agencies.