Should cops' body cam footage be made public? Lawmakers and police chiefs consider the issues
The increased use of body cameras by police officers has led to a debate over whether the recordings should be made public.
Fifteen state legislatures are moving to limit public access even as activists clamor for release of the videos, the New York Times reports.
In Bremerton, Washington, the police chief was so fearful of public records requests that he decided not to buy the cameras for his officers. And in Sarasota, Florida, the police chief temporarily stopped the department’s body camera program after a lawyer from the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida contested charges for the videos, which came to about $214 per video hour.
In Seattle, on the other hand, videos from 12 body cams are broadcast on the department’s YouTube channel, though the images are blurred to protect privacy.
