In April, North Carolina legislators introduced House Bill 713, which would explicitly allow police departments to withhold video captured by body and dashboard mounted cameras.
While it is true that body cameras for law enforcement officers are not a solution by themselves, the availability of video from recordings captured by body cameras are important in spurring needed reforms and must be available to the public — with reasonable exceptions allowed.
Videos including undercover officers and informants obviously should not be released to the public.
But law enforcement officials are working for public agencies doing public work paid for by the public and by principle, their work should generally be available for public examination.
It is true cameras will only be effective when paired with other initiatives, such as community oversight boards, racial sensitivity training and training in resolving situations without use of deadly force.
And police cannot resolve tensions between law enforcement and communities by themselves; lawmakers must also commit to making substantial economic investments in the poor areas where incidents of police brutality often occur.
But nationally, recordings of police misconduct have shown that they can spur reform,and the use of body cameras helps to lay the groundwork for other needed reforms — making video evidence exempt from public record renders body cameras useless in promoting accountability.
If lawmakers are to improve relationships between law enforcement officers and the public then increasing transparency by ensuring video is public record would be a step in that direction.
Of course, making videos public record would present significant challenges regarding the privacy of those citizens who are recorded.
