§ 16-3-311 — Peace officer incident recordings

Colorado § 16-3-311

• Jurisdiction: Colorado
• Title 16: Criminal
• Art.: Arrest - Searches and Seizures

Text

(1) A person has the right to
lawfully record any incident involving a peace officer and to maintain custody and
control of that recording and the device used to record the recording. A peace
officer shall not seize a recording or recording device without consent, without a
search warrant or subpoena, or without a lawful exception to the warrant
requirement.

(2) (a) If a peace officer seeks to obtain from a person a device used to
record an incident involving a peace officer in order to access the recording as
possible evidence in an investigation, the officer shall first:

(I) Advise the person of his or her name, his or her badge number or other
identifying number, and the name of the law enforcement agency;

(II) Identify the legal reason for which the information is requested; and

(III) If practicable under the circumstances, inquire whether the person will
voluntarily provide the officer with a copy of the specific recording that is relevant
to the investigation either by voluntarily providing the device to the officer or
immediately electronically transferring the information to the officer or the law
enforcement agency so that the person may retain possession of his or her device,
the recording, and any personal non-evidentiary private information contained on
the device.

(b) If the person consents voluntarily to the transfer of the device to law
enforcement, the peace officer shall limit his or her search of the device to a search
for the recording that is relevant evidence to the investigation, and the device shall
be returned to the person upon request and with all convenient speed.

(c) If the person consents to an electronic transfer of the recording, the
electronic transfer shall take place as soon as possible and without unnecessary
delay.

(d) In circumstances when the immediate electronic transfer is not
practicable or if the person does not consent to the electronic transfer of the
evidentiary information or to the seizure of the device, the peace officer may
arrange for the transfer or delivery of the information or device with the person to
the peace officer or to the law enforcement agency by any alternative means
consistent with any policies and procedures of the law enforcement agency.

(e) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, a peace officer has the
authority to temporarily seize and maintain control over a device that was used to
record an incident involving a peace officer for no longer than seventy-two hours to
obtain a search warrant when exigent circumstances exist such that the peace
officer believes it is necessary to save a life or when the peace officer has a
reasonable, articulable, good-faith belief that seizure of the device is necessary to
prevent the destruction of the evidentiary recording while a warrant is obtained.

(3) The provisions of this section do not apply to devices seized incident to
arrest.

(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed to allow a person to interfere
with a peace officer in the lawful performance of his or her duties.

Legislative History

Source: L. 2015: Entire section added, (SB 15-1290), ch. 212, p. 774, � 2, effective May 20, 2016.