FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Melanie Bates, Director of Policy & Communications, 202-601-4275, melanie@aclu-nca.org
DC COUNCIL MISSES OPPORTUNITY WITH BODY CAMERAS
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the DC Council passed Bill 21-0351, the “Body-Worn Camera Program Amendment Act of 2015.” The American Civil Liberties Union of the Nation’s Capital (ACLU-DC) applauds Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie’s (D-Ward 5) steadfast leadership in the implementation of this legislation. Despite this outstanding leadership, the bill was amended to allow officers of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to view body-worn camera (BWC) recordings prior to writing their initial reports, except in cases of police shootings. The original text of the bill did not allow officers to view BWC recordings prior to writing their initial reports.
The ACLU-DC expresses its extreme disappointment in the DC Council for voting to include this amendment. “If the real intent of the BWC program is accountability, transparency, and fostering police-community relations, this provision would have been kept as is,” said Monica Hopkins-Maxwell, Executive Director of ACLU-DC. Instead, this provision tips the scales of justice in favor of law enforcement by allowing officers to view BWC recordings prior to writing their initial reports, but prevents potential defendants the same access prior to making statements. “Allowing officers to review footage before making an initial statement threatens to taint investigations, undermines the use of body-worn cameras as a tool for accountability, and hurts the public trust that BWCs should be building,” Hopkins-Maxwell said.
For over the past year, the ACLU-DC has been working diligently with the DC Council, the Mayor, and other stakeholders to help develop a BWC program that upholds both transparency and accountability. Today, that work was lost. “The DC Council had an opportunity to be on the cutting edge and produce the most robust BWC program in the country,” Hopkins-Maxwell stated. “Concerns that not allowing MPD officers to view recordings prior to initial report writing would create ‘gotcha’ moments is entirely off mark.”
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