It is no secret that most police officers now wear body cameras to provide clear and unbiased visual evidence in the case of a crime or troubling event. However, police officers aren’t the only ones who must frequently place themselves in harm’s way to do their jobs. Process servers also find themselves in risky and potentially violent situations when they serve papers to recipients that respond with anger and violence.
It is for this reason that in 2016, Illinois State Representative La Shawn K. Ford introduced Illinois Bill HB 6327, which would require process servers to wear body cameras if completing service of process in counties with populations of more than three million people. According to the language of the bill, the bill would require process servers to record all attempts to serve process. In addition, the process server company would be responsible for storing the video data until the case in question had been fully adjudicated.
Though Illinois Bill HB 6327 was referred to the Rules Committee and then promptly denied, it poses an important question about process server safety and important court evidence. As members of society continue to demand transparency in all aspects of law, more state systems favor video surveillance. As Representative Ford explained, “I think that we are moving more and more in the era of technology and cameras. This is something that will probably become part of Illinois’ law eventually. It’s a good idea, and we just have to make sure we get it right.”
Opponents of process server body cameras express concerns over how people being served papers might react. As the former president of ILAPPS explained, “You’re already dealing with someone that’s maybe unhappy with the serving of the legal document, and then they’re filming. Certainly, there is the possibility that someone would negatively react.”
Though body cameras will not become common practice in the process server industry in the near future, it’s very likely that the idea will continue to arise in legislation until it is finally approved.
