Okla. state senator files bill that would allow DPS audio, video recordings to be made public

By Associated Press

4:31 PM CST, November 30, 2009

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A state senator has filed a bill that would allow audio and video recordings of the Department of Public Safety to be made public.

The bill by Sen. Jim Wilson, a Tahlequah Democrat, would amend the Oklahoma Open Records Act to include the recordings, which now do not fall under the definition of a “record”
http://www.kfsmState one of few to hold back videos

Senator Jim Wilson

wilson@oksenate.gov

 

---

TULSA WORLD

 

State one of few to hold back videos

7/21/09

---

Oklahoma is in the minority among regional states when it comes to releasing highway patrol videos shot from cameras mounted on the vehicle dashboards.

Texas, Missouri and Arkansas all treat state police dash camera videos as an open record, in contrast to Oklahoma where all trooper camera videos are closed to the public, a World survey of regional states found.

Arkansas State Police release its videos to the public after a case reaches the initial court stages, said Bill Sadler, public information officer for the Arkansas State Police.

The Texas Department of Public Safety releases video taken by trooper dash cameras after an investigation has been completed, said Tom Vinger, Texas DPS spokesman.

In Missouri, state officials release dash camera videos after a case has been adjudicated, a spokesman said.

Police dash camera videos are a relatively new record phenomenon. In Oklahoma, dash camera videos were considered public records until 2005, when the Department of Public Safety requested the state Legislature amend the Open Records Act to make all video and audio records closed to the public.

The amendment, contained in a bill with many exemptions requested by DPS, sailed through the Legislature with little fanfare.

The issue came to light a few weeks ago when media organizations began requesting a copy of the dash video camera recording of a May 24 encounter between an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper and a Creek Nation paramedic. The patrol initially refused a Tulsa World request to release the video and then later released it late on a Friday night.

OHP spokesman Capt. Chris West said the agency requested the audio and video recordings be closed to the public in 2005 largely out of concerns for both trooper safety and the privacy of residents.

“I can assure you it’s not about secrecy; it’s confidentiality,” West said.

But West added that “everything is subject to change,” when asked if the agency believed video and audio recordings should continue to be exempt from open record requests.

“I’m sure our administrators will be amenable to sit down with whether it be legislators or anybody else to maybe review it to see if it needed to stay this way or maybe there needed to be some modifications,” West said.

Read More

Advertisement