State Senate panel considers restricting police video

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Law enforcement groups urged Missouri lawmakers to restrict public access to videos from police body cameras Wednesday, while citizen activists and media groups warned keeping the videos secret could erode the public's trust.

The diverging viewpoints expressed to a Senate committee highlight one of the issues stemming from the fatal Aug. 9 shooting of Michael Brown, a black 18-year-old, by a white Ferguson police officer. There were no videos of the events that led to the shooting.

Broader use of police cameras could reduce disputes over what happened between an officer and the public during arrests or other interactions, supporters say.

But representatives of law enforcement groups told the Senate Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee that restrictions are needed on public access to the videos because of privacy and cost concerns.

A bill pending before the Senate committee would prohibit the release of any footage taken by either body cameras or the more common dashboard cameras mounted on police vehicles, unless there's a court order. Attorney General Chris Koster has said such exemptions from the state's open-records law are needed to protect individual privacy.

The bill also would limit the length of time a police department would have to retain footage if it was not part of an investigation, to 90 days.

Sheldon Lineback, executive director of the Missouri Police Chiefs Association, said it was important there be no mandate for the use of body cameras by police departments in the state.

"It's not that we don't support body cams -- it's financial," he said.

Costs to outfit police departments with body cameras can run into the millions for some large cities because of the price to catalog and store footage taken by officers. Camera makers sometimes will offer discounts on the cameras themselves while relying on data storage plans to manage the footage for profits.

The issue of privacy for both individuals and police officers also is a concern, Lineback said. Some police departments are delaying expanded use of body cameras until they're assured the open-records issues are dealt with.

Opponents of the bill, including citizen groups and media organizations, said the proposed Sunshine Law exemptions go too far.

Jasmin Maurer, a member of the Don't Shoot Coalition, said blocking the release of the videos would make it even more difficult to hold police accountable for their actions. She said having cameras would be useless if the public could not have access to the footage to see the truth of what happened.

"Now is the time to rebuild the trust that has been broken between the public and public safety officers," Maurer said.

Media organizations also opposed the restrictions on the release of all camera footage. Missouri Press Association executive director Doug Crews said video being used in an ongoing investigation already could be closed under current law.

He said he understood the concerns about privacy in homes but said there should be some middle ground on the issue for accountability and transparency.

"We should not be a state where a secret police record is the norm," Crews said.

The committee did not vote on the bill. Committee chairman Sen. Doug Libla, R-Poplar Bluff, who sponsored the bill, said he would consider the suggestions made during the hearing.