Tempe police have tightened their body-worn camera rules after reporting revealed officers took their cameras off and used them like stationary recorders to film a mostly-naked woman in a hospital emergency room. The updated policy now makes it clear that cameras cannot be detached or mounted on objects and must stay on an officer’s body. The woman at the center of the incident later sued; a federal judge tossed most of her claims on qualified-immunity grounds, and the case is now on appeal.
What the new rule says
The department's revised Operations Order 17.105 spells out a new restriction: "Officers shall not remove, reposition, or affix the BWC to any object or location other than their person for the purpose of recording an event, person, interview, arrestee, or other law enforcement activity," according to the Tempe Operations Order 17.105. The language underlines that body cameras are supposed to capture what an officer sees, not act as improvised security cameras inside places like hospitals.
The hospital recording
The rule change follows reporting that two Tempe officers removed their cameras inside Tempe St. Luke’s Emergency Room in December 2022, set them up in a corner, and recorded a handcuffed, semi-conscious woman for roughly three hours. The woman, identified in court documents as Noor Jehangir, says she was exposed and humiliated during a medical crisis. ABC15 reviewed records and footage describing what happened in the ER.
Tempe's review and response
City officials say they looked into the incident and cleared the officers, although records show internal investigators did not re-interview the officers involved as part of that review. In a statement published by ABC15, the department acknowledged, "We understand that this situation may raise questions..." and said a broader policy overhaul is in progress and expected to wrap up soon.
Courts and the appeal
Federal court records show a U.S. district judge dismissed the case in November 2025 on qualified-immunity grounds and entered judgment in favor of the officers. The lawsuit did not end there, though. The plaintiff has appealed, and the matter is listed in the Ninth Circuit as appeal number 25-7755, according to Justia for the district case and Justia for the appellate docket.
Policy context
Tempe’s body-camera practices were already under scrutiny. A city internal audit in 2022 flagged shortcomings in supervisory review and documentation around body-worn camera footage, and urged clearer expectations for how supervisors check camera use. Those findings, along with the department’s operations orders, highlighted gaps in routine oversight that the city now says it is trying to close as part of the policy update, according to the City of Tempe audit.
The fresh language removes any wiggle room about treating a body camera like a tripod-mounted recorder in sensitive spaces, and signals a stricter stance on privacy inside medical settings. With the civil case still on appeal, the revised policy is likely to be watched closely as a local test of how departments juggle transparency, evidence gathering and patient privacy when cameras follow officers through hospital doors.
