http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/23/us/charlotte-shooting-police-bodycam-video.html 2016-09-23 02:50:08 Police Videos, Kept Private, Fuel Tensions in Charlotte A police chief’s decision to show dashboard and body camera videos from the killing of Keith L. Scott only to Mr. Scott’s family raised questions about North Carolina’s policies. === The release of official videos has become a significant point of contention in the aftermath of Protesters, civil rights groups and others have called for the release of footage from police dashboard and body cameras to establish what happened. The police say that the man, Keith L. Scott, refused to comply with commands to drop a handgun. Mr. Scott’s family says he was unarmed and was holding a book. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg police chief, Kerr Putney, Chief Putney has cited various reasons for not releasing the videos publicly, including that doing so might compromise investigations. His decision has raised questions about North Carolina’s policy regarding the handling of police video. Why is Charlotte not releasing the videos publicly? The Charlotte Police Department’s refusal to release the footage stands in contrast to Tulsa, Okla., where the police Chief Putney said Thursday that the department does not ordinarily release police video publicly and that doing so in this case could harm local and federal inquiries. “We release it when we believe there is a compelling reason,” he said. “But I’m not going to jeopardize the investigation.” He also suggested that the decision was an effort to protect Mr. Scott. “Transparency is in the eye of the beholder,” he said. “If you think I’m saying we should display a victim’s worst day for public consumption, that is not the transparency I’m speaking of.” Other departments, however, make police videos far more accessible. The Seattle Police Department, for example, What do we know about what the videos may show? Chief Putney said the videos did not provide “absolute, definitive, visual evidence that would confirm that a person is pointing a gun” at officers. Brentley Vinson, the officer who shot Mr. Scott, was working undercover at the time and was not wearing a body camera. But several other officers on the scene were wearing the devices, and there is also footage from police dashboard cameras. Who is calling for the release of the footage? Several groups, including the North Carolina N.A.A.C.P., the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, the North Carolina Open Government Coalition, and various news organizations and protesters have called for the release of relevant videos. A lawyer for Mr. Scott’s family, Justin Bamberg, said during a news conference that the family was uncertain whether the videos should be released. Would disseminating the police videos quell protests? That is unclear. Video Chief Putney said Thursday that he did not believe releasing the video would assuage protesters, some of whom have looted and thrown rocks at the police. “I can tell you this: There’s your truth, my truth and the truth,” he said. “Some people have already made up their minds.” What are the differences between existing law and a There is currently no law in North Carolina that regulates the public release of body camera video. Instead, each local law enforcement agency makes its own rules. The new state law, which will rank among the nation’s most restrictive policies, maintains that body camera video is not a public record that can be released through freedom of information requests. It also says that law enforcement agencies can only show such recordings to people who are seen or heard on them. Police departments, however, have discretion over whether to allow even those people to watch. If the department refuses those requests, the person who was turned down can go to court for a judge’s order. If the person involved has been killed, incapacitated or is a juvenile, a family member or other representative can seek a court order on the victim’s behalf. What would it take for the videos to be released publicly under the new law? Public release would require a court order, including for any law enforcement agency that wanted footage made public. A judge, however, would be unlikely to mandate the release of any video that the Charlotte police say could inhibit an investigation.