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The laws regarding release of body cam video vary by state.
Body cam footage only released by court order in NC - Carolina Public Press
At 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Pasquotank sheriff’s deputies shot and killed
Andrew Brown Jr. while serving a warrant at a residential address in Elizabeth City, according to the county’s sheriff.
Now, Elizabeth City residents are protesting and demanding the release of the footage from the officers’ body cameras, which the sheriff says were turned on.
But under a state law passed in 2016, the only way for the sheriff’s office to release the video to the public is by a court order. Any person, including the news media, may seek the release of the video from a Superior Court judge, according to the UNC School of Government.
Carolina Public Press is coordinating with several other news organizations to request the video. A similar coalition of newsrooms successfully sought the release of body cam and security footage last year in the
death of John Neville in Forsyth County Detention Center, and judges have ordered similar releases of videos on several occasions.
District Attorney Andrew Womble and Pasquotank County Attorney Michael Cox released a joint statement stating that the video cannot be released without a court order:
“We know people want to see the body camera footage. It is reasonable for people to ask to see it, because such video can help provide key context about what happened in incidents like this. However, under North Carolina law, police body-worn camera footage is not a public record and cannot be released to the press or public without a court order.”
The statement also said officials are working to arrange a viewing of the video for Brown’s family. Per state law, the family has a right to request to see the video. It is at the agency’s discretion whether or not to disclose it.
Brown’s family will not be able to record or copy the video, but they will be able to speak to the press and public about what they see.
In Neville’s case, after the family saw the video, they told the press and the public that Neville said he could not breathe 24 times before he went unconscious. That insight spurred more public interest in the case, and
lawyers then used that information to encourage the judge to disclose the videos.
Pasquotank Sheriff
Tommy Wooten, the county attorney and the district attorney will be able to argue their positions in court about releasing the videos.
“As a leader in this county, I’m committed to being transparent to the people I serve,” Wooten said in a video press release Thursday night.
The Superior Court judge who hears the case will have complete discretion on whether to release the videos in full, in part or not at all,
based on eight criteria, including advancing a compelling public interest.
The DA’s office, the county attorney and the sheriff can all make statements in court about whether they support or oppose any part of the video’s release. None have said yet what their position would be in court.
The Dare County Sheriff’s Office also had deputies on the ground, according to the State Bureau of Investigation. The Dare sheriff’s office did not respond to questions for this story.
In one Facebook Live video, a law enforcement officer identifies himself as a Perquimans County sheriff’s deputy. It is not clear how many other jurisdictions were involved in serving the search warrant and the arrest warrant for Brown. Wooten mentioned but did not identify the multiple participating agencies.
