The City of Greensboro considers video collected by body worn cameras to be personnel records of the individual officers. The panel discussion was intended to spur discussion about possible changes to the public records law.
The City of Greensboro on Tuesday hosted a panel discussion of attorneys with varying interests in public records, police conduct and the use of body-worn cameras. The discussion was a response to public concerns that none of the videos collected by the Greensboro police since officers began wearing the cameras a year ago have been released to the public.
Frayda Bluestein from the UNC School of Government argued that the videos serve multiple functions and different portions of the videos will be considered different types of records. Bluestein said the videos serve as recordings of criminal investigative and intelligence information and as personnel records of the officers who wear them.
The second category is important because personnel records – with some exceptions – must be withheld under state law. Criminal investigative and intelligence records can be withheld under the public records law, but law enforcement agencies have discrection to release them.
The City of Greensboro takes the same view of the videos as Bluestein described. The News & Record reported that the city has not released any of the records in the last two years. Under the city’s policy, people who are recorded in the videos can request to review the portion they are in, but will not be provided a copy.
WFMY reported that the Winston-Salem Police Department has allowed some of the videos it records from the body cameras to be released. During the panel discussion, ACLU attorney Chris Brook said Carrboro is developing a camera policy that takes a more narrow view of what should be withheld under the personnel act.
The purpose of Tuesday’s discussion was to begin a dialogue about potential changes to the state’s records and personnel laws to account for body worn video.
The city put video recording of the panel discussion on its website here. No questions from the public were put to the panelists. The city indicated public questions would be posted on its website here, and they would ask panelists to respond. None have been posted as of Wednesday morning.
See coverage from the News & Record here, Fox8 here and WFMY here.