It sounded positive when Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina issued a statement about new legislation surrounding the release of dashboard and police body camera footage. The republican governor signed House Bill 972 and it will go into effect on October 1.
“The bill seeks to gain public trust while respecting the rights of public safety officers by establishing clear and distinct procedures and standards by which a law enforcement agency may disclose or release a recording from a body-worn or dashboard camera. The law allows any person whose image or voice is captured in the recording, or his or her personal representative, to submit a written request for disclosure and, unless the agency can demonstrate a legitimate reason not to disclose the recording, it must be disclosed as promptly as possible. If a law enforcement agency fails to disclose the recording within three business days of the request, the requester is entitled to an expedited hearing in Superior Court.”
What isn’t said in McCrory’s statement, but is clearly stated in the actual bill is that the footage is no longer public record. Even if the video footage is requested by any of the people authorized under the new law such as the person involved in an exchange with the police, or in the event of death, the person’s spouse, parent, child or legal representative, that person cannot obtain a copy to share with the public.
The ACLU points out that the requirement to pursue release of the video in court if the law enforcement agency declines to release video to authorized personnel is onerous.
“Body cameras should be a tool to make law enforcement more transparent and accountable to the communities they serve, but this shameful law will make it nearly impossible to achieve those goals,” said Susanna Birdsong, Policy Counsel for the ACLU of North Carolina. “People who are filmed by police body cameras should not have to spend time and money to go to court in order to see that footage. These barriers are significant and we expect them to drastically reduce any potential this technology had to make law enforcement more accountable to community members.”
No amount of crafty wordsmithing on the part of Gov. McCrory can justify House Bill 972. In times of heightened sensitivity, more transparency is needed not less. For law enforcement to be precluded from releasing video will only further damage already diminished public trust.
Public servants should be held responsible for what is done in the interest of the public. Law enforcement is not exempt. Camera footage adds context and can exonerate good officers doing difficult work. This move backwards is inexcusable.
