Wisconsin body camera rules vary too widely

Body cameras have become standard equipment for most police departments and there are some parameters for how they are to be used. But those parameters vary widely. In Wisconsin, the Legislature passed a law that regulates the use of body cameras. It basically says every police department should have policies in place for the use of body cameras. There are rules on how long the video footage is to be retained, and there are restrictions about releasing footage that shows minors or victims of violent crime. But there don’t seem to be rules that stipulate that police body camera footage is public record. It is generally assumed that body cam video is covered by the state’s open records laws, and therefore are presumed public record, with limited exception. But in Brookfield, a young teen was arrested, accused of starting a fire on railroad tracks then running from police. The body camera footage would show he wasn’t guilty of starting the fire, and didn’t know the person telling him to stop was an officer, because the officer didn’t identify himself. The boy’s mother was denied the ability to see the officer’s body cam footage, with the city saying it doesn’t release footage involving juveniles. He ended up pleading guilty to something he didn’t do. Our lawmakers, whenever they get back to work in Madison, should tighten the wording of the laws regulating body cameras so that each police department in Wisconsin doesn’t have its own rules, and so an innocent teen doesn’t have to plead guilty even though recorded footage would have exonerated him.