The public expects to see police body-camera videos. The question is when they should.
Although the police don’t need the attorney general’s permission, they are asking for his office’s advice on whether they should release body cam videos before cases are prosecuted. And, he said, the rules aren’t clear.
So Neronha is seeking an advisory opinion from the state Supreme Court’s ethics advisory panel, because he said he wants to be able to tell police agencies that they can publicly release videos when police officers use force.
“The point of the letter [to the panel] is to give us the ethical guidance we need to turn it over,” he said. “Right now, our advice to police is we cannot advise to turn that over voluntarily, and perhaps not pursuant to [the state public records law] because of the accused.”
The decision will affect the public’s access to those videos.
For one, it would make a difference in a case in Providence, where a veteran