Governor McCrory, Veto New Police Cam Secrecy Bill!
- by: Susan V
- recipient: Governor Pat McCrory, North Carolina
Passed by the North Carolina legislature last week, a new bill would give police too much power to keep cam video secret - IF McCrory signs it.
According to a News & Observer report, two retired law enforcement officers, now serving as Republican Representatives, sponsored the bill and say it serves as a good balance between police and the public. But the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and others disagree.
In its statement following the bill’s passage, ACLU said the new law gives police "broad authority to keep video footage secret – even from individuals who are filmed."
A Politifact North Carolina report spells out just how restrictive the law can be, allowing only one way for police video to be released to the public - by a judge’s order. And disclosure to those seen or heard in the videos or their lawyers or guardians would be at police discretion and difficult to overrule.
ACLU spokesperson Susanna Birdsong told the press that such broad authority would be counterproductive to law enforcement’s ability to build public trust and to the goal of making “officers more accountable to the communities they serve.”
Sign this petition to insist that Governor McCrory veto this bill allowing police cam secrecy at the expense of the public's right to know.
To Governor McCrory,
As a North Carolina citizen who is concerned about the power this new bill gives police to infringe upon citizens’ right to know, especially when there are questions about police misconduct, I am writing to request that you veto this bill that does not ensure a proper balance of power between police and the public.
[Your Comments]
A recent report involving possible misconduct and excessive use of force by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers is already showing how police are unwilling to disclose video footage in the public interest.
According to a report by Charlotte’s NPR news source, WFAE, only an internal investigation was conducted by the department after a bystander’s cell phone video led to questions about conduct in a recent incident. However the department’s Chief Kerr Putney claims that footage from police body cams “helped him conclude their actions were justified.” Problem is - no one outside the department gets to view that footage to see if the internal investigation was not a cover-up.
The report goes on to explain that the department’s refusal to release the video footage in question is due to “personnel laws.”
This secretive policy, and the new bill that would make such discretion by police departments legal state-wide looks even worse when compared to policies in states like Washington, which the report says “considers body-camera footage a public record," and deals with privacy issues by blurring out faces.
Furthermore, it is disingenuous for police departments to be “selling the use of body cameras to the public and city councils as “a good tool for improving transparency and increasing trust and accountability,” says N.C. Open Government Coalition director Jonathan Jones, when using the “personnel record” loophole “completely undermines that initiative.”
This new bill is a slap in the face to many NC taxpayers who were willing to support the high costs of police body cams as one means of protecting the public from growing concerns over police brutality and other misconduct.
Therefore I, the undersigned, insist that you veto this unbalanced bill that gives police too much power to keep video footage secret and threatens the public’s right to know.
[YOUR NAME]
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