By John Gregory/Illinois Radio Network
CHICAGO – Videos of police-involved shootings would be more accessible under a new proposal introduced in the General Assembly.
Under State Sen. Patricia Van Pelt’s (D-Chicago) legislation, police departments couldn’t declare dashcam or body cam videos of police-involved shootings exempt from Freedom of Information Act requests without a court order.
“What people are saying (is) they want to know why those recordings from Laquan McDonald’s murder (were) not allowed to be given out to the public,” Van Pelt said.
Van Pelt said she does envision situations where it’s appropriate for the video to be kept out of public view.
“In some cases, it will probably impede the process of a fair trial. It could be a lot of different issues that may create challenges if the information was released, and we want the courts to expedite their ruling on that particular FOIA request exemption,” Van Pelt said.
Van Pelt expects to hold a committee hearing on the bill sometime early on in 2016.
