The Oklahoma Department of Corrections has spent millions on body cameras with the stated goal of increasing transparency, but is refusing to release recordings to the public.
The agency’s general counsel maintains that releasing body camera footage could compromise security by showing a facility’s layout and sensitive areas, spokesperson Kay Thompson said. Prison reform advocates argue the decision to withhold recordings undermines public trust and allows bad actors to skirt accountability.
Numerous other public safety agencies that use body cameras, including police departments, sheriff’s offices and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, routinely release body camera recordings as mandated in the Oklahoma Open Records Act. The recordings have helped shed light on multiple high-profile incidents, including an Oklahoma City police officer’s excessive use of force toward an elderly man in 2024 and response to a hostage situation at the Oklahoma County Jail in 2021.
State statute stipulates that audio and video recordings from equipment attached to a law enforcement officer shall be available for public inspection, with limited exceptions. The Oklahoma Department of Corrections is not clearly defined as a law enforcement agency under state law, though the agency began conducting CLEET academy training courses in February 2024.
Cynthia Butler began advocating for body cameras in state prisons following the February 2022 death of Amanda Lane, a 38-year-old prisoner serving a life sentence at the Mabel Bassett Correctional Center in McLoud. The state medical examiner ruled Lane’s death a suicide, but Butler believes Lane may have faced harassment and other mistreatment leading up to her death.
Butler said the agency’s decision to withhold body camera footage will leave the public in the dark regarding conditions facing prisoners and correctional staff.
“Things happen inside that they want to keep hush-hush, like everything’s OK and there are no problems,” Butler said. “There are a lot of things that go on in there that the public is not aware of.”
Deon Osborne, an independent journalist whose work focuses on criminal justice, requested body camera footage from a September incident involving a correctional officer and a prisoner at the Great Plains Correctional Facility in Hinton. The agency confirmed that Lt. Cameron Carter, a five-year veteran of the agency who earned $175,264 in 2024, was terminated for unprofessional behavior toward the prisoner, but declined to elaborate.
Osborne said his request for the footage was denied about one month after submission. He said he understands the agency’s desire to maintain security, but that sensitive images could easily be blurred or redacted.
“We’ve had lawmakers, legal experts and other people outside the state come in and have concerns with our system,” Osborne said. “There’s so little oversight and so little transparency that whether you have a loved one inside, or you just believe in human rights, it’s impossible to really know if those human rights are being upheld. And I think every Oklahoman should care about that.”
In February, the agency enacted a policy stipulating that recordings may only be shared with prosecutors, law enforcement or pursuant to a court-ordered subpoena. Correctional officers in state-run facilities have been equipped with the devices since October 2024.
In June 2024, the agency signed a one-year, $1.09 million contract with Axon Technologies to purchase 1,069 cameras and 142 docking stations. The contract was renewed for an additional year over the summer.
Prison and jail officials have been slower than police to adopt body cameras, as correctional environments are controlled with fixed surveillance systems. But concerns of blind spots and aging infrastructure have prompted a growing number of officials to adopt the technology. Body cameras can also record audio, a feature lacking in most stationary cameras.
The agency emphasized dual goals of improving safety and external relations when announcing the rollout of the devices.
“Moving forward with body cameras for our correctional officers is just another innovative step towards protecting everyone, promoting transparency and improving relations with the public, stakeholders and the Legislature,” former executive director Steven Harpe, who resigned in August to take a job with an agency vendor, said in a 2024 written statement.
The Department of Corrections has also refused to release incident reports for prisoner deaths and violent incidents. A lawsuit challenging that decision, filed by The Frontier in coordination with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, is pending in Oklahoma County District Court. Incident reports are also designated as public documents under the Open Records Act.
Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.
