JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Local prosecutors will speed up the release of body-worn camera footage in police shootings, according to a new policy unveiled by the State Attorney’s Office Tuesday.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office began using body-worn cameras in July 2017 but didn’t release footage of any fatal police shooting until June 2020, in a case that was nearly a year old. Footage of a second fatal shooting – of 17-year-old FAMU student Jamee Johnson – was released in July as part of a carefully orchestrated public disclosure by the State Attorney.
That agency is now promising a baseline goal of releasing footage of fatal or near-fatal police shootings in about 30 days for future disclosures.
“The State Attorney’s Office agrees that the swift and certain public release of [body worn camera] footage … is in the public’s best interest,” the policy says.
In the past, both JSO and the SAO have cited public records exemptions in order to withhold the footage. Both agencies could release the footage as custodians of the records, but have treated it as evidence in an active criminal investigation, a legitimate public records exemption. JSO has been inconsistent in the application of this law, sometimes releasing pictures of weapons held by the person shot in an effort to publicly justify the incident, while still refusing requests for body worn camera footage.
The agency proactively released body camera footage in just two cases – the 2018 shooting of a dog by an officer, and footage from February 2020 of a 6-year-old girl being Baker Acted.
Sheriff Mike Williams has resisted calls to release footage from officer-involved shootings since his office began using the cameras under pressure from the police union. He and the union say JSO is legally prevented from releasing video prior to an officer’s administrative hearing.
However, calls to release footage have intensified in recent months, particularly since the death of George Floyd.
“What use is having bodycams if you’re not going to release them?” local NAACP President Isaiah Rumlin asked the Florida Times-Union in April. “If there’s nothing to hide, why not put it out there?”
Fraternal Order of Police Steve Zona countered in the same story, “footage should not be released until the investigation is complete.” He said facts in the video help investigators weed out false witnesses.
“If you release evidence, in this case BWC footage, and a witness comes forward at a later date you have no way to determine if they are truly a witness or if they just saw the BWC footage … The groups that scream the loudest are often activist groups who commonly spread lies that meet their agendas and political beliefs.”
But the State Attorney’s Office says body cam footage of police shootings is different. “We recognize BWC is unique evidence,” the new policy states, “the public’s expectation to see it as soon as possible is reasonable, and its public disclosure should be presumed.”
Under the new policy, the SAO’s Officer-Involved Critical Incident team will aim to take all potential witness statements, including that of the involved officer, within 21 days – a process that currently takes several months. “Absent exceptional circumstances,” they will then advise JSO within 30 days if the public release is acceptable. The release at that point could be immediate.
The State Attorney oversees over 20 law enforcement agencies in its three-county 4th Judicial Circuit (Clay, Nassau and Duval). Only two use body-worn cameras -- JSO and the Fernandina Beach Police Department.
The new policy will not apply to the backlog of undisclosed body camera footage, but only to future cases.
The new policy comes one day after First Coast News reported prosecutors deemed 14 police shootings “justified,” including eight that were fatal. No body camera footage has yet been released in those cases.