Police Records: My Take on Some of the Tricky Disclosure Questions

June 17, 2016  by  Flannary Collins
Category:  Law Enforcement Records Disclosure

We received a number of interesting questions during our recent webinar on disclosure of police records that we didn’t have time to answer, and, based on the number of questions submitted, it’s clear that I’m not the only one who finds this to be a difficult area of public records law. So, today I’ll provide my thoughts on some of the trickier questions we weren’t able to address during the webinar.

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New PRA Exemption for Body Camera Recordings

April 27, 2016  by  Flannary Collins
Category:  Law Enforcement Records Disclosure

​Thanks to EHB 2362, there’s a new Public Records Act (PRA) exemption for body camera recordings. However, the new exemption only applies to agencies with body camera programs in effect as of June 9, 2016, so act soon if your agency wants to take advantage of it.

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Police Body Cameras: Privacy Implications and Other Considerations

December 3, 2014  by  Flannary Collins
Category:  Law Enforcement Records Disclosure

There’s been quite a bit of buzz recently around the issue of police body cameras – cameras attached to a police officer’s uniform or cap that record conversations and actions of people within the camera’s purview.  In addition to the national focus on police body cameras resulting from the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri – for which there was no video recording – a number of jurisdictions in this state, including Spokane and Seattle, are looking at implementing or have implemented police body camera programs. And the Washington State Attorney General just opined on privacy law considerations regarding their use.

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