How hard is it to request police dash cam footage in Atlanta? (lawyer)

[rangerwickett]

Hi. I got a ticket for allegedly running a stop sign, and after every single person in the {expletive-deleted} world told me it's not worth my time to try to fight it, I'm probably just going to pay the fine.


But, out of curiosity, I was wondering how I could go about getting a copy of the cop car's dash cam video, to see whether there's any evidence I actually did run the stop sign. Is it possible for a lay person to do it with a reasonable amount of effort?



APD does have an 'open records' site ([url=http://www.atlantapd.org/openrecordsrequest.aspx]APD Open Records Request[/url]), but they'll only provide material from closed cases. That means I'll have to pay the fine and admit guilt before I could get evidence that might prove my innocence. Nice Catch-22, eh?


The guy I spoke to at Open Records said I could file a subpoena to request the video. Is that different from a Freedom of Information Act request? Obviously I could hire a lawyer to handle this for me, but the point of this whole exercise is just to learn how complicated it is to get this information on my own.



In a day and age where I can get instant access to live streaming video from the other side of the world, and where websites routinely host personal information that is protected by private log-ins, it's clearly possible to set up a server that would give people quick access to video pertinent to their cases. I figure I've only got a slim chance of any of this making a difference, but if I can give my friends a clear idea of how badly the system is set up, perhaps we can be one small part of a push to get the system improved.


So, any suggestions, Atlanta?