One really disturbing crime is sometimes all it takes to enact change at any level. The Uvalde shooting has done that, encouraging new federal gun legislation and school safety provisions.
It has also revealed the limitations police hope to place on public release of body camera footage. The Texas Department of Public Safety has asked Attorney General Ken Paxton to prevent the public release of footage from cameras that law enforcement officers wore during the shooting at Robb Elementary School, citing one of the many legal loopholes available to them.
In this case, DPS officials argue, the footage could be used by other criminals to find “weaknesses” in how police respond to crimes.
No offense to the Uvalde ISD police and others on the scene for more than an hour while the attack was active, but that ship has sailed.
Motherboard, a tech publication, filed public records requests with DPS, Uvalde city police, the school district, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Customs and Border Protection agency. It seeks body camera footage, audio recordings, and other relevant information from that day in order to understand what went wrong.
It does not take the eye of a criminal investigator to see that Uvalde police failed to follow protocol and lacked the tools and courage necessary to confront an active shooter and usher dying children to nearby hospitals so that their lives may have been saved, even as they prevented parents from going inside the school themselves.
Over the two weeks following the shooting, the story law enforcement shared to the media changed several times. From whether there was a security guard at the school to whether a door was propped open and whether the first responding officer carried a radio, law enforcement involved in the response have shown they’re good at one thing: obfuscation.
Body camera footage of active law enforcement officers that day wouldn’t tell the whole story, of course. And it wouldn’t have to include awful footage of dead or dying victims. But it would provide answers that law enforcement can’t quite get straight.
There are legal provisions to prevent release of the footage, but they should be sparsely applied on a case-by-case basis. The loopholes are vast and expansive and completely thwart the reason for body cameras in the first place: to promote transparency and accountability.
Body camera footage often clarifies for law enforcement and perpetrator what might seem hazy in the heat of an intense moment.
According to the Texas Public Information Act, “A video of a use of deadly force by an officer or the investigation of an officer can not be released to the public until all criminal and administrative processes have been completed. A law enforcement agency may release a video if the agency determines that release of the video advances a law enforcement purpose.” Under these two vague circumstances, both left up to the powers that be, it’s a miracle anyone wondering about the fate of their loved ones in the hands of police officers has seen body cam footage.
Texas law has provisions about what footage and other police documents police departments can withhold. Each city has its own policies, too. Together, they form a laundry list of subjective reasons. Here are some in Fort Worth: in cases in which no one is charged or convicted, in cases where footage shows the inside of a residence, when an investigation is ongoing or the release could compromise the investigation, when the footage might violate someone’s privacy, if the subject is a juvenile, if the footage identifies officers’ names or adversely affects future operations, or when there is a “dead suspect.”
These, particularly that last reason, allows police the option to withhold video or documents in far too many cases. Too many departments are quick to release it when it proves an officer’s use of force was justified, but they fight it when it can hold police accountable.
In light of Uvalde — and future, horrific crimes — it’s time for the Legislature to increase police transparency when it comes to body camera footage. Close some of the loopholes that obfuscate tragedies like this one.
———
