Although protests continue in Charlotte regarding partially released footage of Keith Lamont Scott's death, House Bill 972 will keep future police footage private.
Passed during the summer, House Bill 972 stipulates that police body and dashboard camera footage are not public records. The bill contains new procedural requirements regarding the request of body camera footage, as well as stipulations on who can request it. If a request is denied, those who want the footage must make an appeal to North Carolina superior courts.
John Faircloth, sponsor of the bill and a Republican representative in the North Carolina General Assembly, said the bill creates a uniform standard for police.
“This is a bill that has to do with setting a statewide standard for the handling of images that are recorded on cameras carried by police officers in the line of duty,” Faircloth said. "We’re trying to give a process that applies to every department all across the state in the same way so we’re not doing it 50 different ways.”
Many critics of the legislation, however, worry that procedural requirements outlined in the bill could make it significantly harder for people to request footage. They argue that making body camera footage private obstructs transparency.
“I think it makes it virtually impossible for body cameras to serve the purpose that they were initially thought of as serving,” said Mike Meno, communications director at North Carolina's chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. “What it does is create a very real burden for people who are captured on body camera.”
According to the legislation, the only people able to petition the police for a recording are those who are captured by the video or their personal representatives. In addition, the actual release of a video—as opposed to just being able to view the footage—requires a court order.
The Duke University Police Department has used body cameras since August 2015, but Vice President for Administration Kyle Cavanaugh wrote last June that footage was not considered a public record in order to protect community members' privacy.
Jonathan Jones, an instructor at Elon University and director of the North Carolina Open Government Coalition, disagreed, however. Jones said private university police departments are not legally obligated to use the procedure set forth in the law, and that "Duke is free to set up its own procedures for releasing it."
He added that there are exceptions with the Campus Police Act, which he said requires private police departments to reveal records dealing with "circumstances surrounding an arrest." Others might not share his legal interpretation, he noted.
Cavanaugh wrote that North Carolina law is more ambiguous, as to what applies to Duke and does not.
"The law lists agencies and public records and leaves open a number of areas for interpretation," he wrote. "We will comply with all aspects that apply to our operations."
Most private university police departments, like public ones, have been hesitant to openly release records, Jones said.
While acknowledging people's concerns, Faircloth contended that the bill will not have negative results in practice.
"People are making assumptions that primarily because [the bill] does not make these images a public record, agencies are going to be trying to hide these videos," he said. "Police departments want to use these images. They know it will help them in their interactions with the public.”
Meno argued, however, that the purpose of body cameras in the first place was to improve trust between officers and the communities they serve. The bill creates a greater divide and perpetuates distrust, making the policy largely counterintuitive, he said.
“We’ve seen several police chiefs across the state speak out against this law because they say, 'look, this is going to make it harder for us to do our job, it’s going to make it harder for us to get the full story out there,'” Meno said.
Although footage of the Scott shooting was released from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department prior to the bill taking effect, Faircloth and Meno disagreed on how the bill could have theoretically affected CMPD. Faircloth said it would have made releasing the video easier, while Meno said the new law would have actively prevented it from getting out into the open.
Jones said courts would likely allow for the release of video in such high-profile and charged incidents. However, the now-mandated court process would likely take a long time due to underfunding in the North Carolina court system. CMPD was able to release the video fairly quickly, he noted in contrast.
Both Meno and Faircloth agreed that police accountability and working with the community is a bipartisan issue. Faircloth urged those who are skeptical to be patient and let the bill actually be implemented, instead of judging it prematurely.
“Give it time to work," he said. "This is true of any legislation. I wish years ago when I was out on the streets as a young officer, I wish we had this technology."
Meno suggested that police footage is not the only check-and-balance available to the public.
"It's important for the public to know that despite this new law, they still have the right to film the police,” he said.
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