Courts to decide whether public can see police videos

As a growing number of police departments nationally install video cameras on dashboards and purchase body cameras, a transparency activist in New Jersey says the footage should be made available to the public.

"It's in the best interest of the police and in the best interest of the public," John Paff, chairman of the New Jersey Libertarian Party's Open Government Advocacy Project, said last week.

A state appeals panel has agreed with Paff, upholding a lower court that allowed him to see the dashcam video of a Jan. 29, 2014, traffic stop in which a Tuckerton Borough patrol officer allegedly sicced his police dog on an unarmed motorist.

The panel rejected an appeal filed by Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato to keep the video confidential, saying the Open Public Records Act is designed "to ensure an informed citizenry and to minimize the evils inherent in a secluded process."

Coronato said he would appeal the latest ruling to the state Supreme Court because he said the video is a criminal investigatory record exempt from disclosure. He said the patrolman was charged with official misconduct and aggravated assault after the video and other evidence were reviewed.

The Supreme Court is expected to take the case because the appeals panel's June 30 decision was split 2-1.

The court's docket includes a similar case, which involves Lyndhurst's refusal to release the dashcam video of a police-involved fatal shooting in 2014. The prosecutor in that case also contends the video is investigative.

Paff, however, said that argument would permit prosecutors to preclude the public from viewing most videos.

"Ferguson was only two years ago, and this essentially is the same sort of drumbeat for accountability," Paff said, referring to the August 2014 incident in Missouri in which a white police officer fatally shot Michael Brown, triggering riots.

"Everybody has been talking about the boon the cameras will bring, that they will dissuade bad-acting officers and also protect officers from false charges - but then they say you can't see the videos," he said.

Last week, police shootings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota were captured on cellphone video and sparked more protests. During a protest Thursday night in Dallas, five police officers were killed.

In Pennsylvania, a state court ruled last year that police videos are subject to public disclosure, but footage pertinent to a criminal investigation can be redacted. The panel said the videos are "at the core" of the state's Right-to-Know law and allow the public to hold their officials accountable.

Commonwealth Judge James Gardner Colins said in the ruling that "the mere fact that a record has some connection to a criminal proceeding does not automatically exempt it."

Coronato, the Ocean County prosecutor, said in an interview that his reason for withholding the video is to protect the officer's right to a fair trial. "It's not a matter of if the video should be released, but when," he said, noting that it likely will be played at trial. He said the case still is pending.

The New Jersey Attorney General's Office joined him in the appeal.

Coronato also said he would have released the video to the public if he had decided not to file charges. "We have charged the officer; we're not covering up anything," he said.

Tuckerton Police Cpl. Justin Cherry was indicted last year after his dog, Gunner, attacked Wendy Tucker when he arrested her on traffic violations and charges of eluding a police officer, the Asbury Park Press reported.

Tucker said she was afraid to pull over when the officer put his lights on, so she drove to the nearby Barnegat municipal building before stopping her vehicle, the article said. Two Barnegat patrol officers who responded to the scene automatically turned on their dashcam recorders.

Paff said he asked for a copy of the video after reading the story. "It's of great public interest," he said. "A camera stands as a dispassionate witness that allows the public to see that which actually occurred."

Restricting access to the video will only fuel suspicions of what actually happened, Paff said. He said police body camera videos also should be released for transparency reasons.

Superior Court Judge Vincent Grasso, presiding in Ocean County, ruled in favor of Paff, saying "any investigation of the driver of the vehicle began after the video was made." Under the law, records that are open to the public before any investigation is launched cannot be retroactively withheld.

In New Jersey, a 2014 law required police departments to equip new patrol vehicles with dashboard cameras. But in April, the law was ruled unconstitutional because it did not provide a way to pay for the equipment.

In Pennsylvania, all State Police patrol cars now have dashboard cameras, according to a police spokesman.

Body cameras, meanwhile, are gradually being introduced across the country as departments find funds to pay for them.

jhefler@phillynews.com

856-779-3224 @JanHefler

This article contains information from the Associated Press.