Minnesota Police Asking for Body Camera Reclassification

Police Footage Currently Public Record

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Minnesota Police are requesting body camera footage be classified private, temporarily.

The Duluth Police Department is one of 25 Minnesota agencies supporting the request.

Duluth Police Lieutenant, Laura Marquardt is in charge of the DPD’s body cam program.

Marquardt said Wednesday, body camera footage is currently classified as public, unless there are mitigating circumstances, such as an ongoing investigation, or subject vulnerability.

Marquardt clarified, that means that any interaction a person has with the police that is captured on body camera can be accessed by anyone else in the State of Minnesota.

Police believe that exposes people to unwanted attention and allows others to invade their privacy. 

Marquardt said the request before the State would allow only individuals captured in body cam footage to access the footage, preventing unwanted intrusion.

The Minnesota State Legislature could not come to a decision about the public or private availibility of body camera footage during the 2015 session.

Law Enforcement Agencies are hoping the issue will be revisitied in 2016.