COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A new law that quietly passed the Ohio Statehouse earlier this month has led some people to claim it reduces police and government transparency.
The law allows law enforcement to do this may charge hundreds of dollars for body camera footage.
Families with loved ones who were victims of police brutality held a news conference Thursday to raise their voices against the law.
The new law was a last-minute amendment to House Bill 315, a bill introduced primarily by Republican Reps. Bill Seitz and Thomas Hall.
After signing the bill, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said the policy would lend a hand law enforcement agencies handle time-consuming and labor-intensive work. But families who spoke Thursday said the law felt like a step backwards for police transparency.
“Honestly, I feel like it damages the public’s trust,” Shawna Barnett said. Barnett is Andre Hill’s sister shot and killed by former Columbus Police Officer Adam Coy in December 2020.
Coy was found guilty of murder and intentional homicide in November. Barnett said body camera footage is a focus of the trial.
“Yes, that was invaluable in Andre’s case,” Barnett said. “Had that footage not been there it could have been a very different scenario because it could have been his word against ours and not what you see.”
She said that after Andre’s death, the city of Columbus even implemented Andre’s Law, which requires officers to turn on their body cameras before any enforcement to avoid a “he-said-she-said” situation.
Barnett is one of several people in similar situations from across the state to speak out against the bill.
“I felt like it was a step backwards in terms of transparency and accountability,” Barnett said.
The law allows agencies to charge $75 per hour of video produced, with fees capped at $750.
“I think the lack of clarity in the law undermines it,” said Susan Gilles, a law professor at Capital University Law School. Gilles said this law changes a Supreme Court precedent that said agencies could charge for paper but not for labor.
Gilles said people are concerned about the charges, but she believes the bigger problem soon will be the delays.
“What the law and the Senate bill now provide is that if they decide to charge a fee, they can take five days to figure out how much they’re going to charge you and only after you pay the amount pay, the clock starts running,” said Gilles.
We asked her if she thinks this law will backfire in any way.
“So this was passed late,” Giles said. “It was passed without consultation or evidence of the problem. So I think when you pass something without knowing what problem you’re trying to fix, you often create a whole new set of problems.”
When asked what they want to do about this law, lawyers representing these families said they would like to see it repealed.
Nexstar’s WCMH has reached out to many law enforcement agencies in central Ohio, including the Columbus Division of Police, to see if they plan to file charges. They all tell us that they haven’t made any decisions yet.
The law is scheduled to come into force on April 2nd.
