Police authorities in South Carolina have 9 months to create policies.
AB Wire
NEW YORK: South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has taken a fast, bold and necessary step to make police violence accountable, to the public – a hot button issue across the nation: she signed into law a bill to help police in the state get body cameras, today.
The bill was introduced in last December, and Haley expedited the proceedings, to make it into law, following the shooting death of Walter Scott by North Charleston police officer Michael Slager, in April. Slager has since been fired from the agency, and most recently indicted on a murder charge, reported the Post & Courier.
The Associated Press reported that the brother of Scott joined Haley as she signed the bill. Anthony Scott said Walter Scott was looking down and saying South Carolina did a nice job. Haley said at the signing she is thankful that Scott’s family handled his death with dignity.
The law requires police agencies to create a policy within nine months to the effect which officers will wear the cameras, when they should and should not be recording and how videos are stored.
It would thereafter be approved by the state Law Enforcement Training Council. Police can then apply for money for the cameras and 20 agencies that already have them will be included.
The delay gives lawmakers an extra year to find money to pay for the cameras. The bill heavily restricts when the videos can be released to the public, reported the Post & Courier.
WISTV.com reported Haley as saying at the signing ceremony: “Today people will be safer than they were yesterday and everyday it is going to get better. This is going to strengthen the people of South Carolina. This is going to strengthen law enforcement, and this is going to make sure Walter Scott did not die without us realizing that we have a problem.”
Experts say the cost is estimated at almost $23 million over the first two years.
“It requires departments to implement body cameras to use and implement body cameras, but it also only requires that when they get state funding to do that,” University of South Carolina law professor Seth Stoughton was quoted as saying. “Now the bill that we have right now does not provide for funding. That, I expect we’ll see next year as we start to have the approval process.”
Also, camera footage is not subject to public record requests, but can be obtained by attorneys, family members, or subjects of the recording through court order. Haley says that won’t hinder transparency.
“They understand more importantly, we have to keep communication and transparency,” Haley said. “What their job is, they’re just trying to protect the evidence. That’s why FOIA became an issue, so we could protect evidence and punish who needed to be punished.”