police records Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

15 decisions on public records by the Tennessee Legislature in 2016

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-09T08:23:32-06:00April 26, 2016|Categories: court records, crime records, exemptions, fees, Legislature, Office of Open Records Counsel, requests|Tags: birth certificates, civil asset forfeiture, court records, death certificates, drones, exemptions, fees for public records, government contracts, legislature, police body cameras, police records, police shootings, public notice, tax records, TBI, vendor confidentiality|1 Comment

This year, Tennessee lawmakers punted on public records bills that could have created new access rights to see police body camera video and files of finished investigations into officer-involved shootings. But they did pass several new laws — some that exempted more government information from public view, and others that hold promise for improving government transparency. Following is a roundup of action by the Tennessee Legislature related to public records and access. 1- Police body cameras: After a late-in-session effort to pass a body camera bill and disagreement among stakeholders, the House State Government Committee instructed the Advisory Committee on Open Government to study the issue and provide them with [...]

Police records shed light on use of lethal force in Memphis

The Commercial Appeal published a story yesterday that examined 22 shooting deaths of suspects by Memphis police since 2009. It is a clear example of how access to public records can shed light on local government operations, providing citizens and community leaders support and information for better understanding and tackling a problem. The sheer volume of people shot and killed by Memphis police over a period of five years might be startling, but the Commercial Appeal went farther with its analysis after poring through police records, including video from a home surveillance camera showing an officer shooting an unarmed suspect in the back as he fled. From the story, "CA Investigation: [...]