A new bill proposed by lawmakers in Missouri would make it so that video footage recorded by police of encounters with citizens would be exempt from being viewed by the public. The bill, introduced by Missouri’s Attorney General Chris Koster (D) and Sen. Doug Libla (R) is aimed at stifling citizen’s ability to critically analyze the behavior of law enforcement officials while performing their public duties.
The Senate Bill Number 331 reads: “Any recording captured by a camera, which is capable of recording video or audio…shall not be a public record… [and] shall not be disclosed by a law enforcement agency except upon order of a court in the course of a criminal investigation or prosecution or civil litigation.”
The bill is being packaged as a way to prevent citizens from viewing domestic violence, but would ostensibly protect officers from liability incurred as a result of any of their errant behavior while on duty. “Adoption of this new technology must not lead to a new era of voyeurism and entertainment television at the expense of Missourians’ privacy,” Koster’s report said.
BenSwann.com reported that the Director of Advocacy and policy for Missouri’s ACLU Sarah Rossi argues that the proposed bill is just a way of doing an “end run around Missouri’s Sunshine Law.” The Sunshine Law already gives police the ability to restrict the public from seeing evidence which is involved in active police investigations.
The legislation is widely seen as a way of pushing back against increased calls for police accountability in the wake of the Ferguson riots and the shooting of Mike Brown by Officer Darren Wilson. Activists believe that if officers were wearing body cameras and that information were available to the public that the increased transparency might have quelled anger over the incident, as well as increased trust in the judicial and enforcement processes.
Officers in Rialto, California tested a pilot program with such body cameras and experienced a drop in complaints against police by citizens of 88%. Use of force by officers also fell by 60%, so it’s strange that legislators in Missouri wouldn’t wish to replicate this unquestionable success with the use of body cameras on police. Use of cameras with public transparency is arguably a greater service to the officers themselves than even the public at large.
