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New North Carolina law will prohibit release of police videos

On Saturday, Kerr Putney, chief of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, released some of the police video of the fatal shooting of Scott by a black police officer on Sept. 20. The video shows Scott getting out of his vehicle before the fatal shots were fired. Police claim he had a gun and ignored officers’ commands to drop it. Others, including the dead man’s family, dispute the fact Scott did have a gun.

The fatal shooting set off days of protests, riots and looting and the illegal activities were only brought under control after the National Guard was brought in. Putney decided to release the video after a video taken by a member of Scott’s family was released and after demands for the video’s release escalated.

As Putney had said before releasing the bodycam and dashcam video, it is not clear from the footage whether Scott in fact had a gun in his hand when he was fatally shot.

This is probably the last time police in North Carolina will have the discretion to release a video police have taken. A new law will come into force on Oct. 1 in the state.

House Bill 972 was passed last summer by votes of 88-20 in the state House and 48-2 in the state Senate. It was then signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory in July. Under the legislation, a court order will have to be obtained before a video can be released to the public. The legislation states police videos are not public records.

People who appear in the video or their legal representatives can request to see the footage but that can be denied. Permission to view it can be refused if police believe the video contains sensitive information or if someone’s life may be put at risk. Anyone denied permission can appeal the refusal to a court.

Anyone else who wants to see the video or wants it to be made public will have to go to court. Upon such application, the court will look at such factors of whether there is a compelling interest in releasing the footage, whether anyone can be harmed by its release or whether the video contains sensitive information that should not be released because it might hinder a continuing investigation.

Proponents of the law argue videos do not show the whole story and can harm the reputations of police officers who were acting appropriately. They also argue not releasing videos to the public will protect innocent people such as domestic violence victims who can be seen in the video. The new law also brings uniformity to the release of videos currently done in discretion of local police chiefs and sheriffs.

Critics point out requiring a court order goes against the principle of transparency. And some argue it takes away from the necessity of having dashcams and bodycams in the first place. The American Civil Liberties Union described the law as “disgraceful” and said videos are important to resolve conflicting narratives between police and civilians.

Other states including New Hampshire and Minnesota have also passed laws to restrict access to police videos that were previously considered to be public records.

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