crime records Archives - Page 12 of 19 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

15 Dec, 2015

TBI investigative file released in Memphis police shooting case

By Deborah Fisher|2019-09-11T18:56:09-05:00December 15, 2015|Categories: crime records|Tags: Amy Weirich, James R. Newsom III, Mark Gywn, Memphis, police shootings, Shelby County, TBI|0 Comments

The Shelby County District Attorney has posted on her website TBI's investigative files into the shooting death of 19-year-old Darrius Stewart by a Memphis police officer in what may be one of the first times such TBI files have been made public. See Memphis Commercial Appeal story here: TBI files in Darrius Stewart case now open for public review Shelby County Chancellor James R. Newsom III ruled last week that the normally confidential files could be released after the district attorney, Amy Weirich, and TBI Director Mark Gwyn petitioned the court, saying that releasing the files would be in the public's interest. Weirich had recommended that the Shelby County grand jury indict Memphis police officer Connor [...]

2 Dec, 2015

Gibson County court clerk refuses to release public documents

By Deborah Fisher|2015-12-02T15:00:19-06:00December 2, 2015|Categories: crime records|Tags: court clerk, Gibson County, Gibson County Circuit Court Clerk Janice Jones, Gibson County Sheriff's Office, indictment, The Jackson Sun|0 Comments

The Jackson Sun tried yesterday to get a copy of indictments against 12 current and former employees of the Gibson County Sheriff's Office. But the Circuit Court Clerk refused to let the newspaper see them or get copies. She said she had not yet logged the indictment into the computer system. The indictments were the result of an investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Comptroller's Office. Here is an excerpt from the story: Gibson County court clerk refuses to release public documents: (Janice) Jones refused to make the indictments available for viewing and refused to email, scan or let a reporter take a photo of the documents. [...]

3 Nov, 2015

How cop cameras are addressed by ACLU, Florida law and others

By Deborah Fisher|2015-11-03T08:03:48-06:00November 3, 2015|Categories: crime records|Tags: ACLU, City of Franklin, Franklin police, police body cameras|0 Comments

An article today in The Tennessean outlines some of the conversation taking place about the use of body cameras by local law enforcement, with the city of Franklin's police chief saying she is waiting for state law to address usage before she rolls them out. “I believe that body cameras will become a basic piece of law enforcement work,” Franklin Police Chief Deborah Faulkner said. “But the first agencies that implement body cameras will create case law and I want to avoid that.” The newspaper reported that Faulkner urged lawmakers to look at an approach similar to Florida's, which adopted a statute last year exempting footage from the state's public records [...]

23 Oct, 2015

Bringing in TBI to investigate deadly force by police raises transparency question

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-09T08:21:39-06:00October 23, 2015|Categories: crime records|Tags: police shootings, State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, State Sen. Brian Kelsey, TBI|0 Comments

The Tennessean reports today that two of the state's major police departments - Knoxville and Nashville - are opposed to a proposal that would hand all investigations into local police killings to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. When someone is killed by a local law enforcement officer, the large police departments in the state historically have conducted their own investigations to determine if lethal force was justified, or if there was wrongdoing on the part of the officer. Under open records law in Tennessee, documents from a closed police investigation are accessible to the public, allowing transparency into the process. State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, D-Memphis Two Memphis lawmakers - [...]

19 Oct, 2015

Police, ACLU, open government advocates talk body cam footage

By Deborah Fisher|2015-10-20T08:44:57-05:00October 19, 2015|Categories: crime records, Legislature|Tags: ACLU, David Rausch, police body cameras, State Sen. Brian Kelsey, State Sen. Sara Kyle|1 Comment

Representatives from police, the ACLU, the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, the Tennessee Press Association and one of the largest vendors of body cams offered thoughts today to the state Senate Judiciary Committee on the use of body cameras to record interactions between law enforcement and citizens. Several police departments are moving forward with plans to equip their officers with body cameras, raising issues of how the cameras will be used, how long video will be retained and what is releasable under the state's public records laws. See video: Hearing on body camera footage before the Tennessee State Senate Judiciary Committee (Body cameras start at 2:45) The Knox County Sheriff's Office, [...]