Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
New law makes police cam footage off limits to public | abc11.com
Monday, July 11, 2016 09:36PM
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Motivated by the controversial police officer-involved shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota, and the terror in Texas that unfolded after a Black Lives Matter march, Gov. Pat McCrory signed the Body Cam bill into law.
McCrory signed House Bill 972 on Monday afternoon.
The new law details who can view and obtain footage from body and dashboard camera. The footage is no longer public record.
If you are in the video, either your image or your audio, you can request the file. The request could be denied, however, and then you'll have to take the fight to Superior Court.
McCrory says technology can mislead and misinform.
"My goal is to protect those who protect us," he said.
The Governor believes the legislation is fair for everyone.
"It's better to have rules and guidelines with all this technology than no rules and guidelines whatsoever," said McCrory.
The ACLU of North Carolina calls the legislation "shameful."
"Body cameras should be a tool to make law enforcement more transparent and accountable to the communities they serve, but this shameful law will make it nearly impossible to achieve those goals," said Susanna Birdsong, Policy Counsel for the ACLU of North Carolina. "People who are filmed by police body cameras should not have to spend time and money to go to court in order to see that footage. These barriers are significant and we expect them to drastically reduce any potential this technology had to make law enforcement more accountable to community members."
The Governor's Office would not comment on the criticism.
The law goes into effect Oct. 1.
Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison is backing McCrory's move. He says what law enforcement encounters in the field is not for everyone's eyes.
"A lot of groups think we should show everything from start to finish and we just can't do it," said Harrison. "They think we're trying to hide something and that's not what it is. But if we go into a house for a domestic (assault) and if the wife has been assaulted has been unclothed, we don't want that on YouTube. We don't want that out there."
McCrory took another step Monday to protect officers. He established the Blue Alert System, which is to help catch anyone who intends on attacking or harming a public safety officials.
"A lot of groups think we should show everything from start to finish and we just can't do it," said Harrison. "They think we're trying to hide something and that's not what it is. But if we go into a house for a domestic (assault) and if the wife has been assaulted has been unclothed, we don't want that on YouTube. We don't want that out there."
.
This is total BS. You can pass a law then to say that body cam footage of domestic disputes inside peoples homes can only be requested by people involved.
This is a way for cops to cover up, plain and simple. I've often hear cops opine about the good old days..when they could beat people up and it was the perps word against theirs. We should be moving far, far away from those days, not back towards them.
This is total BS. You can pass a law then to say that body cam footage of domestic disputes inside peoples homes can only be requested by people involved.
This is a way for cops to cover up, plain and simple. I've often hear cops opine about the good old days..when they could beat people up and it was the perps word against theirs. We should be moving far, far away from those days, not back towards them.
Yep, it's another in a string of terrible legislation in my state. I can't wait to vote that idiot McCrory out of office. How he went from such a strong mayor in Charlotte to such a terrible Governor is mystifying.
"Freedom loving" Republicans at it again. Small government, for the people, all bull****. I know 2 or 3 right-wingers on here will vehemently disagree with this law, but the rest will lap it up like good little dogs. I'm striking NC off my list of potential states to move to in the next 5 years. The goal of freedom is to make it harder, not easier, for government to get away with corruption and abuse of power
This is total BS. You can pass a law then to say that body cam footage of domestic disputes inside peoples homes can only be requested by people involved.
This is a way for cops to cover up, plain and simple. I've often hear cops opine about the good old days..when they could beat people up and it was the perps word against theirs. We should be moving far, far away from those days, not back towards them.
That's sure my gut reaction.
I'd love to know what examples were used in the passage of this bill to convince legislators that it was a good idea. I have some sympathy with the idea that releasing "out of context" videos might not be the world's greatest idea, but - aren't 911 calls public records, even when they reveal excruciating details "out of context"?
I thought after recent events, that they were going to lay the smack-down on Facebook and make them remove the live stream feature altogether. But this is much worse. NC is just the beginning.
The next law should be that it is illegal to post ANY video on a crime under investigation until the video has been vetted by experts as unaltered and legitimate.
if a leo walks in on a perp on a child etc. OFF limits any thing involving a child- should be closed doors only by atty. or whatever not WWW social media. I'm in the interest of protecting victims.
what we have seen protect victims rights-- I am ok with that -
This is total BS. You can pass a law then to say that body cam footage of domestic disputes inside peoples homes can only be requested by people involved.
This is a way for cops to cover up, plain and simple. I've often hear cops opine about the good old days..when they could beat people up and it was the perps word against theirs. We should be moving far, far away from those days, not back towards them.
Uh, no. It simply makes the footage a police record and treats it to the same release laws that other police records are subject to.
If a policeman comes into your home to break up a fight between you and your spouse, the public is not entitled to that incident report. You are, because it is about you. But the public isn't. Same goes for the footage that the officer's body-cam recorded. The public is not entitled to the voyeuristic scene of you and your spouse drunk, in your underwear, fighting in your bedroom. (Bad enough the cops had to see it.)
I spent 30 years looking into the private lives of people I investigated. Believe me, they do not want what I know about them releasable to the public. Had I been wearing a body-cam, they wouldn't want that out there, either.
The law protects the public, not the cops.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
