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Lawmakers Discuss Dashboard Recordings, Body Cameras, And Oklahoma’s Open Records Future

Oklahoma House of Representatives

Two lawmakers with a history of filing open records-friendly legislation gathered with supporters of government transparency to discuss recent legislative measures they said ran counter to the spirit of the state’s Open Records Act.

During the Freedom of Information Oklahoma Sunshine Conference on March 14, state Rep. Jason Murphey, R-Guthrie, and state Sen. David Holt, R-Oklahoma City, joined StateImpact Oklahoma’s Joe Wertz – who’s a member of FOI Oklahoma – for a discussion that centered mostly on a failed bill they said would have given Oklahoma law enforcement too much control over decisions regarding the public release of police dashboard camera or body camera footage.

House Bill 1361 would have allowed police departments to deny any request for body camera footage and other records that would "clearly cause excessive disruption of the essential function of the public body." The bill also gave departments authority to require advance payment for the costs of compliance.

Holt, who helped stall the measure, said the attitude reflected in the bill’s wording was dangerous.

“When it comes to transparency, the answer needs to be either ‘Yes’ or, in some cases if it’s reasonable, ‘Yes, if.’ But never ‘No, because,’” Holt said.

Wertz asked if law enforcement transparency should be the goal for such legislation, rather than keeping records from public view.

Murphey said this was already starting to happen. Because open records advocates made their voices heard when the recent bill was proposed, state departments will have to be more sensitive to transparency issues in the future.

“You can’t just stumble into the process without transparency, then attack transparency,” Murphey said.

Holt pointed out that body cameras are a much more complicated issue than dash cams because dash cams only record police activity on the road, which is a very public space.

With a body camera, “you see everything that an officer sees, and officers live in an ugly world,” Holt said.

Holt said current body camera rules allow officers to turn the devices off, and legislating the moments a camera has to remain on will be difficult.

Murphey said the solution is to convince law enforcement that body cameras are good for the officers. He cited an incident where the body camera of a Muskogee police officer involved in a deadly shooting showed the officer’s actions were just.

“In many situations, these body cams will be protection for the officer,” Murphey said.

Holt agreed, saying it’s against law enforcement’s interests to stifle video of their actions because the video could help exonerate most officers of their actions.

“And when it does not, it is certainly in the public interest to know when an officer has abused the great authority we give law enforcement,” Holt said.

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