Marion police to get body cameras

The Marion, North Carolina, Police Department plans to equip each officer with a body camera, the McDowell News reports.

The story quotes SMVT attorney Amanda Martin on whether the recordings from the cameras are public records:

Body camera footage and public record requests are a hot topic across the state and nation right now. The McDowell News spoke to Amanda Martin, attorney for the N.C. Press Association, who said the public records law is unclear on body cameras and that it’s an issue that may have to be resolved in the state legislature.

“The exemption for criminal investigative records covers surveillance videos. In the event of an arrest, there is an argument that you have a right of access under 132-1.4(c), that a video gives the ‘circumstances surrounding arrest.’ I know of only one circumstance (Wilmington) in which a court has ordered public access to dash cam videos (which are an analogous camera),” Martin said in an email to the newspaper.

You can find the full story here.