Bodycam Records Rules Relaxed by New Jersey Supreme Court (1)

New Jersey police can’t automatically refuse to disclose bodycam footage of people who aren’t arrested or charged, even if those videos contain sensitive material important to an investigation, the state high court ruled Tuesday.

The statutory language and intent of state law—an effort to find a compromise between protecting police investigations and giving citizens access to government records, especially their own—controlled the day, the unanimous New Jersey Supreme Court ruled. The state’s Body Worn Camera Law and broader Open Public Records Act regime’s “criminal investigatory record” exemption can’t be read so broadly that law enforcement can automatically block access ...