SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Some Illinois lawmakers want to make it harder for police to prevent the release of videos in response to the highly publicized dashcam footage showing a white Chicago police officer fatally shooting a black teenager.
The shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald happened in October 2014, but it was 13 months before police released the video due to a judge's order.
A bill would have a judge be the first stop in determining whether videos should be released to the public instead of allowing agencies to make that determination.
Government officials must weigh the public's increasing appetite to monitor how police officers do their job with law enforcement's desire to protect privacy and the integrity of pending investigations.
Twenty states and the District of Columbia have laws addressing body cameras.
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