Committee approves police body cam bill

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – There will be more public access to the video recorded by police body cameras under a bill that is now headed to the floor of the state Senate.

It’s the result of a compromise reached between chiefs of police, media organizations and the lawmakers who are trying to encourage greater use of body cams.

A state Senate committee approved that compromise on a 7 to 1 vote.

It means that the bill now under consideration places the burden on police to show that a video should not be released if there is a public request to view it.

It also requires police agencies to store videos for 190 days and limits the fees they can charge to costs incurred if someone requests a copy.

The committee chairman says it could lead to fewer cops taking the law into their own hands.

“So you know you’re being watched all the time,” said Sen. Brent Steele (R-Bedford,) “and you need to conform your activities.”

“We do want to encourage chiefs and sheriffs and departments and agencies across the state of Indiana to embrace this technology,’ said Chief Jason Dombkowski of West Lafayette.

Media organizations who objected to earlier versions of the bill expressed support today.

“We want to put together a policy that allows law enforcement to use these. We think there’s a real benefit in these body cameras,” said Sen. Rod Bray (R-Martinsville,) “and if we do it wrong I think they’ll just put them on the shelf or just not buy them at all.”

Sponsors of the bill say they are trying to find some middle ground between states where all body cam videos are released and those where very few of them become public.