Bridgeton Police Lost 62,000 Body Camera Videos in Server Crash

An internal Bridgeton Police Department operations report dated May 2, 2024, documented the loss of approximately 62,000 body-worn camera and in-car video files. The report attributes the loss to a hard drive problem on the department’s WatchGuard server after a botched migration to a new system that went online in July 2022. The department contacted Motorola and Equus for recovery, but neither could provide the missing files. New Jersey law requires retention of body camera footage for at least 180 days, and longer in certain cases. The report does not indicate whether prosecutors or defense attorneys were notified of the loss.