WATE 6: DA’s request could prevent closure for Gatlinburg fire victims
From WATE 6 in Knoxville on efforts to get information about the emergency response to the Gatlinburg fire:
23
Mar, 2017
21
Mar, 2017
Bill to bring transparency to TBI investigations of police shootings advances
A bill that would make public the investigative record of TBI investigations of police shootings after the case is over advanced in a House subcommittee today. The House Criminal Justice Subcommittee voted to move the bill to the full committee. State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, D-Memphis, is sponsoring the bill, H.B. 277, in the House, and state Sen. Lee Harris, D-Memphis, is the sponsor in the Senate. (S.B. 1039) State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, D-Memphis Currently, some district attorneys in the state say they cannot release the investigative record in a police shooting case, even after the case is over, because of an exemption to the Tennessee Public Records Act [...]
8
Mar, 2017
Body camera bill passes Senate committee
UPDATE, 3-17-17: The Senate passed Johnson's body cam bill, S.B. 442, on Thursday 27-0. ----- Original story: A bill that would exempt from the state's public records laws police body camera footage collected inside schools, hospitals and, when no crime is being investigated, private residences passed the Senate State & Local Government committee Tuesday. State Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin Two amendments were added to the legislation carried by state Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin. One specifies that "video taken of minors in a school that serves any grades from kindergarten through grade twelve shall be treated as confidential." The other, suggested by Lt. Gov Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, puts a [...]
21
Dec, 2016
Ohio Supreme Court finds delayed release of body camera footage “reasonable”
The Ohio Supreme Court, which recently ruled that not all police records fall under the state's investigatory exemption, ruled this week in a separate case about body camera footage in a police shooting. The court found that the district attorney's release of body camera footage after the indictment of a police officer was reasonable. In all, the district attorney withheld the body camera footage for six business days. Read the ruling. From Cleveland.com: Hamilton County officials were within the law to withhold body camera footage for six business days after a University of Cincinnati police officer fatally shot a man during a traffic stop, the state's highest court ruled Tuesday. But [...]
20
Dec, 2016
Nashville police chief publicly blasts DA spokesman who released name of alleged rape victim
The Nashville Police Chief publicly blasted a spokesman in the District Attorney's office for releasing a police incident report to a TV station that contained the name of a housekeeping employee who reported she was raped in a Bridgestone Arena bathroom. The woman later gave an on-camera interview to WSMV-TV Channel 4, saying she wanted to tell her story and was upset after learning that the co-worker who she said attacked her was a registered sex offender. "They should screen sex offenders, murderers, anybody (before employing them)," she told the TV station. Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson Police Chief Steve Anderson said that releasing the name of the alleged rape victim [...]