Police body cameras were supposed to change everything. But a decade after they became commonplace in departments across the US, one big problem has emerged, according to an investigation by ProPublica and the New York Times Magazine. Simply put, police departments routinely refuse to release the footage, despite pledges of transparency. The investigation focused on June 2022, when 79 police killings were captured by officers' bodycams nationwide. Since then—a year and a half later—police have released video from only 33 of those cases, or 42%. The problem, writes Eric Umansky, is that while local lawmakers can equip their departments with bodycams, it's largely left up to police officials to decide when, or whether, to release the footage. In many cases, the released video is redacted or heavily edited.
The flip side is that "when full footage has been released, often by prosecutors or after public pressure, it often contradicts initial police accounts," writes Umansky, who cites multiple examples. In one shooting in Philadelphia, an officer fatally shot a man, claiming he'd lunged at cops with a weapon. The footage showed the man was sitting in his car. The officer has since been charged with murder, but that, too, appears to be an exception. Departments "have frequently failed to discipline or fire officers when body cameras document abuse and have kept footage from the agencies charged with investigating police misconduct," writes Umansky. Read the full story, which includes thoughts from experts on how to change things for the better. (Or check out other Longforms.)
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