They're "public" records when HPD says they are
KTRK-13 reports that HPD doesn't want the public looking at footage from its Tasers that actually have cameras installed at this point:
The Houston Police Department has video of officers firing Tasers, but they don't want you to see it just yet.
HPD wants to install cameras on all its Tasers. About 50 of the weapons already have the test equipment. We put in a request to see the Taser tapes. Instead, we got a copy of a letter sent to the Texas attorney general in which HPD asks to withhold the recordings.
"Those are active criminal investigations that are working their way through the process," said Lt. Thomas Jennings with the Houston Police Department. "So we don't want to do anything that jeopardizes the integrity of those investigations."
The tapes are considered public information and HPD says it will comply with the attorney general's ruling.
They did not add, "When we feel like it, perhaps." But they could have. HPD is not the most cooperative or forthcoming government agency when it comes to fulfilling public information requests in a timely manner.
We'd be really interested in seeing any HPD footage (Taser or patrol car) related to the shock-and-arrest of Houston Texan Fred Weary back in November. A judge later dismissed the charge of resisting arrest, saying the charge was not merited, which led activists to call for closer scrutiny of HPD's Taser program and policies.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/16/06 06:35 PM | Print |
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