The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government (TCOG) says more than 9 in 10 Tennesseans (92%) support public access to police body camera video when it records use of force that results in a citizen’s serious injury or death. That's according to a new poll by icitizen in collaboration with the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government. The support crosses partisan, age and regional lines.
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When the Dallas police used a bomb robot to kill a suspect who had shot and killed five police officers and wounding nine others, it set a controversial precedent that raised questions about the procedures and practices the police had followed to determine whether to use a remote detonation explosive. Multiple journalists filed Freedom of Information Act requests to learn more about the police’s decision-making process.
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A police force that picks and chooses the laws it will honor probably doesn’t deserve to call itself a law enforcement agency. The St. Louis Police Department behaves as if Missouri’s Sunshine Law doesn’t apply uniformly to departmental records and the fees it charges to access them.
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Read More… from Editorial: Police department accountability shouldn’t require a lawsuit
Government and reporters across Ohio are wading through uncharted technological waters as more body cameras pop up on uniforms amid allegations of police misconduct.
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Read More… from Ohio: More police body cameras bring public records issues
A legislative effort to open some law-enforcement personnel records up to public scrutiny died a quiet death in the Capitol last week.
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Read More… from California Effort to Increase Police Transparency Dies in State Capitol
California has long led the nation in protecting public access to public information, with one glaring exception that took hold in the late 1970s: Police records have become increasingly off limits. The dubious rationale for blocking disclosure is that it is a private matter — and none of the public's business — when a police officer fires a weapon, is found to have lied during an investigation or is disciplined for misconduct.
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Read More… from Editorial: It’s time to restore police transparency in California
Two Phoenix lawmakers outlined proposed legislation Monday that they said would increase police transparency, accountability and trust in the community.
Rep. Reginald Bolding and Rep. Ken Clark, both D-Phoenix, were quick to praise police officers, even as they proposed the new oversight measures.
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Read More… from Arizona bill would increase police transparency
From FoxNews.com
ATLANTA – For 13 years, a Georgia woman has lived under the shadow of a child abuse investigation, though police cleared her of any wrongdoing.
The welts and bruises on her daughter's body turned out to be an allergic reaction to antibiotics. But the investigation showed up on criminal background checks, restricting her access to jobs, housing and even her daughter's school.
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Read More… from Georgia pols fight law opening criminal records even without crime
