SPEAKIN’ OUT NEWS
John Sharp
The Alabama Senate Judiciary Committee voted down a bill that would have required the public release of police body camera footage on Wednesday, with an 8-4 vote against the legislation. Sponsored by Sen. Merika Coleman, D-Birmingham, the bill (SB14) aimed to make body and dash cam footage publicly available within 30 days of a request. It also proposed allowing families to view the footage upon request.
The bill included provisions for appealing to a circuit judge if a law enforcement agency denied a request to view footage. The judge would then decide whether the footage should be released.
“This legislation is not an indictment of law enforcement,” Coleman explained during the committee hearing at the Statehouse in Montgomery. “Quickly releasing the footage can help dispel rumors and identify problematic behavior. Additionally, it can verify whether police actions are consistent with procedures.”
The bill was inspired by two incidents involving the deaths of Black men during encounters with police in Alabama last year. Steven Perkins, 39, was shot and killed in his front yard in Decatur on September 29, while Jawan Dallas, 39, died after an altercation involving two Mobile police officers in Theodore on July 2. Both cases prompted protests, and requests for the release of bodycam footage were denied.
In both cases, requests from the media and the victim’s families to review the bodycam footage were denied. Footage of Perkins’ deadly encounter with police was leaked to conservative website 1819 News in March. The bodycam footage of the Dallas death was shown to his family in November, more than five months after the incident occurred and only after the case had been disposed by a Mobile County grand jury. Neither footage has been released publicly.
In 2021, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that police bodycam and dashcam videos are investigative materials, exempting them from the state public records law.
Sen. Coleman, who attended a rally in Mobile in December, said her legislation aimed to give families better access to footage. Some lawmakers, however, expressed concerns about the bill’s 30-day timeframe, arguing that it could create challenges for criminal defendants.
Sen. Lance Bell, R-Pell City, who works as a lawyer and prosecutor, noted that early release of footage could negatively impact both sides of cases of a Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike.
Road, argued that quick release could repeatedly victimize the crime victim.
Other lawmakers supported the bill’s inclusion of a judge to decide whether footage could be released.
Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, said, “Involving a circuit judge in the decision-making process ensures a fair and safe approach to handling disputes between law enforcement and the public.”
Coleman also noted that the state’s existing bodycam law lacks provisions for providing footage access to families. The existing law, which took effect last September, allows individuals featured in footage to request to review it, but agencies can deny the request.
The agencies involved in the Perkins and Dallas cases denied such requests.
Although Coleman faced criticism from some Democratic colleagues when introducing the bill, she emphasized that the legislation was not related to her congressional run. Coleman plans to revisit the legislation next year, focusing on ensuring that families have access to footage.
“The fight continues,” Coleman stated. “My bill was shaped by town hall meetings with the Jawan Dallas family, and other similar cases. We must build a coalition to pass bodycam legislation that grants families relief.”
