INDIANAPOLIS — No vote was taken on a divisive police body cameras bill after a hearing by the Indiana Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
House Bill 1019 would restrict access to police body camera footage and would put the burden on the public and media to prove they have an interest in viewing the video. Authored by Rep. Kevin Mahan, R-Hartford City, the bill would require members of the public to get a petition from a judge to be able to view the video. The person would have to prove public interest would be served by the video being released and that no harm would come from its publication.
Members of the public, as well as media groups, have argued those points might be hard to prove if they don’t know what’s on the video beforehand.
Courier & Press investigative editor Jay Young testified at the hearings last month.
The committee chairman, Sen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford, said he had concerns over the burden of proof being put on the public. He offered an amendment on the bill loosening the burden of proof and expanding the time frame police agencies would be required to keep video archives. The amendment wasn't voted on after Steele said it still needed some work.
No action was taken on the bill either and further study was assigned to a subcommittee created by Steele. He said he wanted the subcommittee members to come up with some amendments that would better job of balancing public access with privacy concerns.
Steele said he hoped the Judiciary Committee could vote on the bill next week but it could be two weeks before the bill is ready to go.
Jason Dombkowski, police chief for West Lafayette Police Dept. and a representative for the Indiana Association of Chiefs of Police, testified on the success he's seen at his department, which implemented a body camera policy a few years ago.
Dombkowski said the body cameras have been an improvement on his staff.
"Everybody behaves differently when they know they're being recorded," Dombkowski said.
He also said more often than not, body camera footage is used to exonerate police from wrongdoing.
The majority of police agencies support the bill, although they expressed concern about the cost of extending the amount of time they would have to save body camera footage.