This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Lawmakers are grappling with how — or if — the Legislature should set policies governing police officers' use of body cameras and protecting the privacy of individuals who might be captured on the images.
Rep. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, said the question boils down to two issues: balancing the public interest and access under state open-records laws with the individual privacy and deciding whether policy issues on the cameras should be in the hands of the Legislature or left to the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST).
McCay's bill would write some minimum standards into law — including when the cameras should be turned on and what protocols should be followed if they are going to be turned off.
A competing bill, sponsored by Sen. Daniel Thatcher, R-West Valley City, would leave it up to POST to write the standards governing law enforcement around the state.
Bountiful Police Chief Tom Ross, president of the Utah Chiefs of Police Association, favors letting POST do the work and predicted that most of the provisions in McCay's bill — with a few exceptions — would end up in any administrative rules.
Leaving POST with the rule-making authority provides more flexibility, Ross said, allowing the standards to be changed without having to wait for the annual legislative session.
But McCay contends that the Legislature could set some minimal standards and then give law enforcement the ability to fill in the rest.
His bill, HB300, for example, would require that the cameras be visible, activated at the beginning of an encounter with a citizen and stay running throughout the interaction, except in a narrow set of circumstances.
The measure also sets guidelines for when the recordings can be made public under open-records laws, making it difficult — but not impossible — for a member of the public or news outlet to get copies of the video.
Jeff Hunt, an attorney for the Utah Media Coalition, which represents most major Utah news outlets, said his clients support the balance struck in McCay's bill.
"Is it perfect? No. Would we prefer other language? Yes. But it's the product of compromise," he said. "We think it strikes an appropriate balance."
Marina Lowe, an attorney with the Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said her organization also supports the bill, saying it is the product of extensive collaboration and balancing.
The House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice committee did not vote on McCay's bill Wednesday, but likely will soon. Thatcher's SB94 is awaiting a hearing in the Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee.
Twitter: @RobertGehrke