Lawmakers want to limit what can be made public
State legislators are pushing to make it much harder to release police officer body camera videos, undermining their promise as a tool people can use to hold law enforcement accountable.
Lawmakers in at least 15 states have introduced bills to exempt video recordings of police encounters with citizens from state public records laws, or to limit what can be made public.
Their stated motive: preserving the privacy of people being videotaped, and saving considerable time and money that would need to be spent on public information requests as the technology quickly becomes more widely used.
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DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
What's the point of them then? Every detail of an arrest is public record from the event to sentencing.
ReplyDeleteNot true! If it has evidentiary value it isn't public record. If it is an initial appearance it can't even be recorded. The trial isn't recorded. Thinking is a lot different than knowing isn't it?
DeleteThis defeats the reason Police wants them. Cameras were to make incidents transparent.
ReplyDeleteDon't spend the money if they are not to be used for transparence and protection for all making all recordings Public Record.
Sir please think about what you're saying. Imagine the time and money it would take to upload and record for the public every recording made by a police officer. Each and every citizen contact is recorded. It would be a logistics nightmare to answer every FOIA request if people began asking for each recording. Yhe cost to the taxpayer would be enormous.
DeleteHence the fact that no machine shop on America has the "technology" to hang a dash cam in a Caprice with a bracket.
ReplyDeleteDid you all buy that one?
Now, body cams have different rules than the now NON- EXISTENT dash cams! Isn't this so very convenient! Looks like the cops have learned their lesson on allowing the public see what happened on a traffic stop that turns to a murder.
I have come to the conclusion that MD's 'pro cop' legislature see nothing, what-so-ever, wrong with the murders, muggings, animal cruelty acts as well as the multitude of other offenses LE is guilty of. I can only hope that they or members of their families are the next victims.
ReplyDeleteIs Maryland's legislature even mentioned in this article?
Deletelmao. you can't film them but they want to film you!
ReplyDelete11:30PM
ReplyDeleteMD's legislature has just shot down several bills that would have helped control the 'out of control' cops in this state.., that's probably what 9:46PM is referring to.