Photo by Robin MayBATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A proposal to exempt all police body camera footage unrelated to criminal investigations from Louisiana public records law has stalled in the state Senate, at least temporarily.
Lake Charles Sen. Ronnie Johns, a Republican, says he plans to continue discussions on the measure and bring a reworked proposal to a Senate judiciary committee next week. He decided Tuesday to remove the bill from the panel's consideration.
Supporters of the bill included local chiefs of police. They cited high costs to maintain footage that isn't criminal evidence, as well as privacy concerns when dealing with recording private homes, victims and witnesses.
But senators worried the bill's language was too broad, a concern echoed by the Louisiana Press Association. They say it could block law enforcement transparency.