A bill in Lansing would protect police body cam footage from Freedom of Information Act requests if the video was taken on private property.
The measure would require police departments to hold onto body camera footage for at least 30 days, unless the footage is involved in a complaint or case.
Republican Representative Jim Runestad is the bill sponsor. He says it’s about upholding some basic guidelines for bodycam footage of people in their own homes.
“The people in the state of Michigan would not tolerate them being compromised innocently. The police come into their home and they’re in this situation and they call the police in, no fault of their own, and now there is this terrible image of them to be released to every blooper show in all parts of the state.”
Lisa McGraw is with the Michigan Press Association, which opposes the bill. She says she understands establishing guidelines, but the bill as written could protect police misconduct.
“If departments are going to have these body cameras it would be a great tool to build trust within a community, a police department, and it’s citizens. By excluding this footage it erodes that trust.”
Representative Runestad said in cases of police misconduct people who appear in the videos will have access to the footage.
“If there’s not a charge but you think something was done wrong to you in your own home you're going to be able to get a copy and share it with your attorney or your attorney can get a copy and you can share it with the media, so in all cases we’ll be able to get film footage that is an evidentiary piece of information.”
But McGraw said the bill puts extra barriers between police videos and the public.
“From our perspective it protects the police often from bad accusations if they have that footage. We see that footage as citizens and we know they are telling the truth.”
The bill also establishes that in complaints or cases where body cam footage cannot be provided by officers, the officer is not assumed guilty.
The bill passed the house unanimously this week.