Body camera guidelines on the move at Minnesota Legislature

Minnesota's first set of guidelines for the police use of body cameras is moving ahead at the Legislature after weeks of a stalemate, leading to outcry from open government advocates that the bill would keep too much footage under wraps.

A Minnesota House committee passed a bill Tuesday that would make most footage from the portable recording devices private. The legislation has been in the works for two years, but has gotten held up as lawmakers have struggled to address concerns about officers entering homes with the recording devices and a push from transparency advocates to grant broader public access. Dozens of Minnesota departments are already using body cameras, and law enforcement representatives have argued that others would start using them once the state establishes clear guidelines.

Like similar legislation that the Senate recently passed, the bill passed by the House Civil Law Committee on Tuesday is full of provisions that open government advocates have complained make it too much of a law enforcement surveillance tool and not enough of a critical window into police activity.

The debate over body cameras has grown to include organizations protesting the death of a 24-year-old black man who was shot and killed by Minneapolis police late last year. The officers weren't wearing body cameras.

But the bill would restrict access to officers and the subjects depicted in footage and would only release videos of police use of force after an investigation has been completed. Officers would be allowed to review footage before submitting a written police report. And it lacks a requirement that officers get consent before entering a home while filming with a body camera — a provision that another top Republican had fought for, leaving a bill's prospects in question this session.

"Essentially, it's of, by and for law enforcement," said Rep. John Lesch, DFL-St. Paul.

Rep. Tony Cornish, the bill's author and a former police officer, defended the legislation as striking the right balance. A powerful committee chair, the Vernon Center Republican has played an integral role in months of negotiations.

"We've done the best we can to move the bill forward," Cornish said.

Protesters point to the November death of Jamar Clark as evidence that police officers need body cameras to help provide transparency and accountability. But Minneapolis NAACP president Nekima Levy-Pounds said Cornish's bill defeats that purpose, making it a surveillance tool instead.

"It weighs too heavily in favor in protecting law enforcement, at a time in which trust by ... communities of color and law enforcement is at an all-time low," she said.