Charlotte Mecklenburg Police have released some of the body and dash cam video of the police shooting of Keith Scott. They had the discretion to do that. But come Saturday, that will no longer be their call to make. A new law will require a court order to release that type of video. State Representative Allen McNeill, a Republican from Asheboro, is the primary sponsor of the law.
The bill has been the target of renewed criticism as calls intensified for CMPD to release video of the Scott shooting, but McNeill says critics are misinformed.
He says the police videos will be more accessible because the public will have an outlet to access dashcam or body camera video instead of being at the mercy of law enforcement officials.
"Our bill says they’re (videos) not public records, but neither are they personnel records," McNeill says.
"This law does not put the custodian of the record (such as the police chief) in the unfortunate position of having to decide what is evidence and what is not evidence, what should be released and what should not be. It puts it where it should be – it puts it with the court."
