Lawmakers take no action on police body cameras before session

A legislative committee held off deciding Tuesday on a proposal that the state mandate police officers wear body cameras.

Rep. Gail Finney, D-Wichita, and activists from Wichita pressed lawmakers to move forward with legislation requiring police departments to equip officers with body cameras and ensure that those records be open to the public.

Law enforcement officers speaking against Finney’s proposal said they support the wearing of body cameras but oppose an unfunded state mandate. Ed Klumpp, spokesman for the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police, said policies should be set at the local level rather than required by the state.

Djuan Wash, spokesman for Wichita’s Sunflower Community Action, called body cameras “a silent and impartial witness” and police killings a national emergency. He opened his testimony by playing a recording of the last words of Eric Garner, a black man who died last year after being placed in a chokehold by a New York City police officer.

The Special Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice decided to wait for the Kansas Judicial Council to make a recommendation next month rather than recommend Finney’s proposal to the Legislature.

The Judicial Council won’t recommend a mandate but will weigh how to treat the videos recorded by the body cameras under the Kansas Open Records Act. Some law enforcement agencies have sealed the videos, while others have treated them as open records.

The American Civil Liberties Union recommended that videos that show use of force ought to be open records.

A bill passed by the Senate last year would make the videos available only to people who were the subject of a police stop, their attorneys and their parents or guardians if they’re under the age of 18.

This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 6:18 PM with the headline "Lawmakers take no action on police body cameras before session."