Now, thanks to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the FAA has released a list of institutions that have asked for Certificates of Authorizations (COA) to fly drones in the United States. That fact that the U.S. Air Force, DARPA and Department of Homeland Security are flying drones is no [...]
Filed under: FOI At Work | Tagged: Colleges and Universities, drones, police | 1 Comment »
This fascinating and informative post from the wonderful Citizen Media Law Project brings the latest in the ongoing saga of requests for police dashcam videos in Seattle, raising timely issues of law, technology and policing… A must read.
Filed under: 3. Access law, 7. Electronic records, 8. Officials' perspectives, Transparency | Tagged: police, Privacy, Seattle, video, Washington | Leave a Comment »
Reports from police officers that explain why they use force against someone are not exempt from the state’s public record law, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The opinion from the state’s highest court came months after an attorney, Keith Hall, requested use-of-force reports in the case of an off-duty police officer who allegedly hit [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law, 6. Overcoming denials | Tagged: Arkansas, FOi litigation, police, use of force | 1 Comment »
Illinoisans would be allowed to make recordings of police officers in public under a bill that an Illinois House committee approved Wednesday. Existing state law allows the audiotaping of a person only if both parties to the conversation give their consent. Videotaping doesn’t require consent, but only if there is no audio with the video. [...]
Filed under: secrecy, Trickle-down fascism | Tagged: Illinois, police, public photography | Leave a Comment »
Not really FOI, but hey, this is getting downright ridiculous: A Las Vegas police officer detained a man for refusing to walk away after taking a photo of a movie set that was completely visible to the public. The man video recorded his interaction, which doesn’t show the officer’s face or name, but allows us [...]
Filed under: Trickle-down fascism | Tagged: harassment, Law Enforcement, Photographer, police, Police officer | Leave a Comment »
Kudos to Milwaukee (Wis.) Journal Sentinel investigative reporter Gina Barton, whose excellent October 2011 three-part series “Both Sides of the Law” found that at least 93 Milwaukee police officers had been disciplined for violating laws and ordinances, but didn’t lose their jobs. Barton said it took nearly two years of records requests, a court case, and $7,500 in [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 2. Doc state of mind, 3. Access law, 6. Overcoming denials | Tagged: Law Enforcement, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, police | Leave a Comment »
A Rogers County judge denied a request for the release of a dash cam video recorded by the Claremore Police Department, ruling that under the state’s Open Records Act, the footage is “not a public record.” Associate District Judge Sheila Condren heard evidence in a nonjury trial in August, according to Tulsa World. Attorney Stephen Fabian [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law, 7. Electronic records | Tagged: dashcam video, Oklahoma, police | Leave a Comment »
KLTV 7 has obtained dramatic dash-cam video of Smith County authorities chasing a man in a stolen Tyler police car. After making numerous requests though the Freedom of Information Act, we were able to obtain the thirty-minute video of that May pursuit. The chase started on Highway 155 in Noonday after 24-year-old Isaac Garcia attempted to rob two [...]
Filed under: 2. Doc state of mind, 3. Access law | Tagged: dashcam video, FOI at work, police, Texas | Leave a Comment »
No one, for even a moment, wants to downplay or minimize the death of a police officer. But this sort of thing is a slippery, slippery slop, as the Columbus Dispatch points out: State Sen. Frank LaRose, R-Fairlawn, plans to introduce a bill to that effect, banning release of the dash-cam video in any incident [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law | Tagged: dashboard cams, Ohio, police, proposed exemptions | Leave a Comment »
