We are a country of federal, state, and local laws (and international treaties, for that matter). So when someone asks, “What’s the Law On …,” law librarians and lawyers need to show laypeople how to Find the Law(s).
NPR has done that for you with Body Cam Laws (but, note that laws change so you will need to update this research each time you need accurate data.)
“Piecing Together America’s Patchwork Quilt Of Body Cam Laws,” posted 2/25/16, at NPR’s All Tech Considered.
Look for the 7th edition of this important legal research resource, National Survey of State Laws, which is used by lawyers and many other legal researchers. Visit the Hein Blog for a July 8, 2015, guest post by the author, Richard Leiter.
Link to my 2014 blog post on this topic: How to Find State Law Comparisons, Surveys, and Compilations
This is a quick and dirty guide to free and not-free (usually subscription) databases for this kind of research; it is not a comprehensive list. (And novice researchers should be reminded that the same statutory language is not always used across states to accomplish the same purpose.)
FREE:
Oregon Legal Research Blog