Ohio passed a surprise law last Thursday allowing Ohio police departments to charge the public up to $75 an hour for police body cam footage. The surprise mostly stems from the fact that the controversial law was neatly tucked in a 441-page bill and passed without haste exactly one hour after the bill was introduced to the floor.
The law would challenge a decades-old court ruling that public agencies could only charge someone who sought a public record for the cost of the item the record was copied onto, like a piece of paper, CD or a flash drive.
Many departments, including Cleveland police, have provided digital copies of public records for free.
Attorney general blames YouTube creators
However, the Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost supports the bill, claiming that social media influencers and professional YouTube creators have bogged down police departments with body camera video requests, effectively “making the taxpayers subsidize their little garden businesses.”
“It’s an expensive, labor-intensive process,” Yost said. “I think that this will be a solid way to approach (the issue).”
The law’s passage has drawn sharp criticism and outrage from Ohioans and advocacy groups.
ACLU opposes ‘blow for transparency’
Gary Daniels, chief lobbyist at Ohio’s American Civil Liberties Union chapter, called the law a “major blow for government transparency and accountability.”
“As a society, we give police the power to shoot, injure and potentially kill us,” Daniels said. “What this language does is it allows them to hide behind the law that is going to be cost-prohibitive for someone to get videos they want.”
Because the law violates judicial precedent, the bill is expected by many to be vetoed by Gov. Mike DeWine. However, it is unclear if he will and if other states will pass similar bills.
