A public right to police video

In the name of protecting privacy, Pennsylvania's legislature is holding up a bill that could protect people from police misconduct, and the police from unfounded complaints.

State Sen. Stewart Greenleaf (R., Montgomery) wants to amend the state's wiretap law to let police use body cameras on private property. Those objecting want to exempt body-camera footage from the state's public records law, which would undermine the very purpose of the cameras.

It would also be redundant. Pennsylvania already has privacy laws and exemptions from the public-records law for matters under investigation. Additionally, a recent Yale study noted that inexpensive software can be used to blur faces in police recordings to protect victims, witnesses, minors, and others.

Further legislative restrictions would limit the added government accountability and transparency the cameras are supposed to ensure for the only public employees who routinely carry deadly weapons into dangerous situations. Suppressing body-camera footage would also prevent the courts from using it to weigh disputes between police and the public, the Yale study noted.

Police officers should want the public to see the footage. A body-camera recording showed that police were justified in shooting former NFL star Jermaine Green inside his Florida home in 2013. The video shows officers repeatedly warning Green as he held his girlfriend in a stranglehold and at knifepoint.

Greenleaf's legislation would reasonably require that one of three criteria be met before police turn on body cameras on private property: They are executing a search warrant, have observed exigent circumstances such as screams from inside the home, or have obtained the residents' consent.

Some agencies have objected to the hassle of releasing recordings. Greenleaf says he is working on a way to keep the records under the jurisdiction of the state's Right-to-Know Law while also showing consideration for departments, such as by allowing a fee for culling records. That is acceptable provided the fee is used only to cover costs and not to discourage access.

Greenleaf's bill needs more work, but it shouldn't be tabled. Body cameras provide a valuable means of getting clear answers to questions about police interactions with suspects. Ultimately, they promise to check bad policing and protect officers who behave appropriately, making law enforcement more humane and effective.