Posted June 22, 2017 5:45 pm by Comments

By Brian Seay

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled 5-2 in favor of allowing police dash cam video from car accidents to be released to the public, but the ruling may not last very long.
The ruling stems from a March 2014 right-to-know request from Michelle Grove. She wanted dash cam video from an accident her friend was involved in, but state police denied the request, citing a criminal investigative records exemption, according to the ruling.
Grove didn’t give up. A couple months later, she appealed that denial to the state’s open records office. The office granted her request, but then state police appealed the decision in court. Tuesday’s ruling upheld the decision to grant Grove access to the videos, making dash cam videos public records unless police can prove a specific exemption.
“Citizens should care because it gives them the ability to access police dash camera video, which will help them understand police interaction in the community and provide accountability,” said Melissa Melewsky, who filed a friend of the court brief in the case on behalf of a newspaper trade group in Pennsylvania.
While narrow in the scope of release, the decision opens up the state’s tightly held police videos. But the ruling may soon

Source: Guns.com

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