police body cameras

17 Feb, 2016

Memphis presents policy to deny access to body cam video, moves forward with purchase

By |2016-02-17T08:22:09-06:00February 17, 2016|Categories: crime records|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

The Commercial Appeal reports today that the city of Memphis is moving ahead with a multimillion-dollar plan to equip its police officers with body cams, but also presented a policy that would deny citizen requests to see video from the cameras if the video is related to an ongoing investigation. This would include incidents that involve an officer-involved shooting, Memphis Chief Operating Officer Doug McGowen told council members. The proposed policy on access to video was not voted upon, and McGowen said the policy could be adjusted if it's not working, according to the Commercial Appeal. Lucian Pera, the Commercial Appeal's attorney, and president of Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, was quoted [...]

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3 Nov, 2015

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

By |2015-11-03T08:03:48-06:00November 3, 2015|Categories: crime records|Tags: , , , |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 [...]

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19 Oct, 2015

Police, ACLU, open government advocates talk body cam footage

By |2015-10-20T08:44:57-05:00October 19, 2015|Categories: crime records, Legislature|Tags: , , , , |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, [...]

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12 Oct, 2015

TN Senate Judiciary hearing to include body camera legislation

By |2015-10-13T07:09:17-05:00October 12, 2015|Categories: crime records, Legislature|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing at 10 a.m Monday, Oct. 19, to discuss several criminal justice issues, including the use of body-worn cameras by law enforcement. Many law enforcement agencies across the country are moving toward the use of body cameras as a way to improve policing and accountability after a series of high-profile incidents in which police were perceived to have used excessive force in dealing with suspects. Also, the federal government has begun to fund body-worn cameras at the local level through federal grants. But the use of body cams has raised several questions concerning disclosure of video under public records laws, citizen privacy, the cost of storage and redaction, [...]

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13 Aug, 2015

Nooga.com: Police body cameras test privacy, transparency

By |2015-08-13T11:02:12-05:00August 13, 2015|Categories: crime records|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

Nooga.com's reporter David Morton called me recently about the Chattanooga police chief's concerns about body cameras in Tennessee. His department plans to use them but he's concerned that the video would be public under the Tennessee Public Records Act. The issue is headed for some exposure. A summer study committee of the Legislature will be hearing comments on issues surrounding police body cameras the week of Oct. 19 after two bills were introduced last year that would require body cameras in local police departments and make all video from them confidential. There are some legitimate privacy concerns about the footage, but I urged that we be careful about changing the law [...]

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