North Carolina lawmakers are considering a bill that would exclude law enforcement video footage from the public record. Legislators and opponents are grappling with citizen privacy and police accountability.
Under this bill, if you've been recorded by a police body camera, you can request to see the footage. If you're denied that request, you have to go to court to get it.
A House Judiciary Committee passed the bill Tuesday despite objections from policymakers, the media and a civil liberties group who say the proposal promotes secrecy.
They say the bill places too many barriers on getting the records and make the process less transparent.
The bill's sponsors say barriers are needed because some footage could infringe on citizen privacy if it were made public.
Many law enforcement agencies consider video footage to be part of a confidential personnel record.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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