Senate Bill Allows Police To Deny Requests For Officer Video
PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) – Legislation approved by the Pennsylvania state Senate on Wednesday would let police departments across the state refuse public requests for copies of video recordings by officers, unless a court orders the release.
The state senate passed bill SB976, without debate Wednesday, by a vote of 45-5.
Speaking to KDKA from Montgomery, Senator Stewart Greenleaf, the sponsor of the bill, says he first introduced it to address concerns of cost and liability with officer-worn body cameras.
"There could be tens of thousands of dollars by one request if we're not careful in how we handle this," said Sen. Greenleaf, "and so we had to address that issue and so the issue of a police officer that might go into a home and using body cams."
As it stands now, the bill would allow police officers to wear and record footage from a body camera inside a private home and a public place, while on duty. The bill doesn't address when a camera must be turned on, or how long data must be stored.
And, anyone requesting video from body cameras or dashboard video must make the request within 14 days. It can only be released with a court order, as long as it is not part of an investigation.
"In this situation we're not using the Right to Know Law and the Right to Know Law assumes that everything is available to them and that's what's caused us to not be able to get the bill through because law enforcement was opposing it," Sen. Greenleaf said,
Several law enforcement agencies now support the bill, but Gov. Tom Wolf and the American Civil Liberties Union oppose it.
In a two-sentence statement, the office said it continues to work on the bill with the Legislature. A spokesman for House Majority Leader David Reed, R-Indiana, said the chamber will review it.
The ACLU agreed that some police video should be shielded from public view, noting that crime victims and witnesses need protection. But it also pointed to hurdles the public would face under the bill in obtaining video, including a "byzantine" process to request it.
The ACLU released a statement. It reads, "in practice, under this bill, the public will rarely, if ever, see video produced by police departments that shows misconduct by officers."
The bill now heads to the state House of Representatives. There are five voting days left in the session. If the bill isn't passed by Nov. 30, it then dies.
Sen. Greenleaf has said he would re-introduce the bill, if it isn't passed this year.
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