Stockton Weighs How To Handle Releasing Body Camera Footage
STOCKTON (CBS13) — Stockton's police chief calls the body camera the fastest changing technology in the last century. But as body cameras become more widespread, there's a growing debate on what video police should release. Now, Stockton Police Department has a policy on when to withhold the video and when to release it to the public.
"That's a tricky line, said Eric Jones, Stockton Police Chief. "When does public interest outweigh the confidentiality, the investigative piece?"
Body cameras are now a part of every Stockton police officer's uniform. And since they were rolled out in Stockton last year, releasing captured footage only had one rule.
"We weren't releasing any video because it was under investigation," Jones said.
But sometimes those investigations can go one for months or even a year. So now Stockton has a new policy that makes body camera video more accessible to the public and allows it to be released sooner.
"When there is a compelling and pressing public interest in releasing the footage, then I now have the ability to release footage possibly within the first 10 days of a request or of the incident," Jones said.
From his perspective, possible benefits of releasing video could be to help reduce tensions or calm civil unrest in certain communities. While Jones will have the final say, he's prepared to work with other city agencies if necessary.
"Certainly, I will be having discussion with the city attorney, certainly I will have discussion with the district attorney to make sure it does not compromise their investigation," he said.
Just like in any case, evidence revealing sexual assault victims, underage victims and other sensitive identities has to remain protected.
"Instead of a full investigation, for it coming completely to fruition, perhaps we just insure that the first component of the investigation is complete, such as, all of the key witnesses have been interviewed," Jones said. "We have to differentiate public curiosity and public interest."
The ACLU of Northern California released this statement to CBS 13 on the use of body cameras: "Body cameras don't provide transparency if the video is never released to the public. Setting the right balance between privacy and the public interest in transparency is tricky, but some situations are clear: when (1) the video captures a critical incident, such as a serious use of force; (2) there are allegations of misconduct regarding the interaction captured on video; or (3) the subject of the video requests it, body camera video should be released."
