Thadeus Greenson On Fight To Make Police Videos Public Statewide
Do you think the public has a right to see police videos? Footage captured on dash cams and body cameras? On the latest episode of Humboldt Last Week, North Coast Journal News Editor Thadeus Greenson checked in to discuss his battle to make police videos available to the public throughout California.
The newspaper has been working for years to obtain the controversial arrest video of a 14-year-old in Eureka in 2012, and last week California’s Supreme Court again made it clear this video and others like it can not be hidden from the public.
In recent years the Eureka Police Department has been taking steps to get their officers equipped with body cameras and dash-cameras, but the question was: Who gets to see the footage? The ‘Journal believes the answer is everyone. The city however only wants select people associated with law enforcement to see these videos because they want to categorize them as private personnel records. Check out Greenson’s latest in-depth story here.
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Listen to the story and a quick summary of other happenings from last week below.
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If there is nothing to hide then why would it matter, the camera is the only thing that can keep everybody honest,why is this even a question, of course everyone should know what our so called public servants do when they think no one will see!
Clearly the Eureka PD thinks there is something to hide, and THAT’S WHY it matters. The police should have nothing to hide. They are only shooting themselves in the foot with this stubborn, ridiculous attitude. Pun intended.
Thank you!! Whats the point of paying for all those cameras if no one but police can view them?? It changes nothing, and as tax payers we need to demand that if we are going to pay for all this gear then it should be utilized accordingly and as promised.
Didnt we pay for a bunch of “non-lethal” weaponry to try to cut down in police killing people which, beyond the obvious potential injustice, often leads to lengthy expensive court cases?
This is gearing up to be a precedent setting case that will apply statewide.
I for one am super proud of you as a journalist, it’s a brave and important thing to do and I’m glad to see the journal backing you as well as the other organizations. As they say, our rights are like muscles, they need to be exercised and it’s our job as citizens to uphold them in the same way police are supposed to uphold the law.
The issue of tax dollars paying for defending law enforcement is a widely hidden topic in our county. I would very much like to see a breakdown of where this money comes from and how much is spent on wrongful death lawsuits alone. Especially as it looks like upcoming EPD cases could cost us another $10million plus dollars in payment to victims families.
The pepper spray case in the 90’s went through 3 trials as the first two the jury couldn’t come to a decision. That was super pricey just in lawyer fees, the plaintiffs were awarded a dollar each or something like that, but that 3rd case brought a decision that the sheriffs could not use pepper spray like that anymore. If you don’t know the story I highly recommend looking it up, pepper spray and q-tips humboldt county ca.
If you want privacy, don’t become a public servant. Total transparency only leads to the truth. How can anyone involved in “the justice system” argue against it?
They want to hide the thin blue line, a filthy labor union, war crimes, and looting from the public.
No other explanation can exist for them not wanting to be open to the people that feed them through taxes.
These North Korean types should be deported.
The only reason ANYONE, cops, politicians, teachers, parents, boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, postmen, neighbors, care if they are being taped is if they are ashamed or doing something wrong and don’t want to be found out.
Otherwise who gives a rats…
You forgot drivers, every automobile should be required to have one recording the driver.
What a dumb question to ask if the public should have rights,…
Do we the people make up the republic?
Do we the people pay for the cameras, gear, cruizers, mace, guns and bullets that these cops are equipped with?
You bet your butt we do.
Hey kym, are you with the people or the population controlling elite?
Lets please stop asking ridiculous questions and giving people the support they need especially on platforms like this.
We the people pay for all the riot gear and cameras, the wages of abusive cops even. You bet your last two brain cells we have the right.
America has become so ignorant it needs a supreme court to tell it about its own rights.
There is no two sides to any story, the camera captures exactly the one thing and only way things go down.
If they get to use footage against the people then the people should also have access to the tapes, as a matter if fact footage should get uploaded to a safe server or cloud as its captured so that corrupt police force members don’t have a window of manipulation, now go eat my shorts with these dumb questions already.
Good point on the monetary side of things: In the podcast Thadeus mentions that taxpayers pay for this equipment and the wages of the people that use it. When a local city makes an argument to keep footage private it’s important to note that and see how the community feels about it, no matter if we feel there’s going to be a popular opinion.
The police seem to have forgotten for whom they work.
When they put that slogan “PROTECT & SERVE” on their cars…it is we the people they are refering to, not thenselves.
Here’s the solution – Continue decriminalizing crime so liberals are no longer caught on tape being punished for their crimes… Or outlaw liberals.
Behind the hands of crime there’s a liberal attached.
Of course they should be available to the public. Just the fact that there’s an argument against it says a lot.