NC governor signs new law restricting most access to LEO body cam footage

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Gov. Pat McCrory signed controversial legislation Monday regulating the release of recordings from police body and dashboard cameras.

There were growing calls for McCrory to veto the legislation because it makes it difficult for the public – including people involved in a recorded police action – to see it. But the Republican governor said the law will strike a balance between improving public trust in the police and respecting the rights of officers.

McCrory signed the bill while surrounded by law enforcement officers from several departments and against the backdrop of fatal police shootings last week of black men by police officers in Minnesota and Louisiana, along with the shooting deaths of five police officers by a black gunman in Dallas who was targeting white cops.

These shootings or their aftermath were captured on the telephone cameras of witnesses.

McCrory referenced those deaths in his remarks and said the law “ensures transparency.”

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The law allows people who are recorded, or their representatives, to see footage if law enforcement agencies agree. The police chief or sheriff would decide whether to grant access. The law enforcement agency can consider a number of factors in making the decision, including whether disclosure may harm someone’s reputation or jeopardize someone’s safety, or if confidentiality is “necessary to protect either an active or inactive internal or criminal investigation or potential internal or criminal investigation.”

Subjects of the recordings don’t have minimum guaranteed access to footage, Birdsong said in an interview. “A police chief can deny them access for any reason,” she said.

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