TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Despite objections from an open-government group, Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday signed a bill that will create a public-records exemption for many videos recorded by police body cameras.
The bill (SB 248), sponsored by Sen. Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, will apply to body-camera recordings taken inside places such as private residences, health-care facilities and social-service facilities.
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In certain instances, the videos could be disclosed, including to people who are recorded by the body cameras.
But the bill said shielding the videos from broader public release is needed because they are "more likely to capture highly sensitive personal information" than other types of police recordings or documents.
"The Legislature finds that public disclosure of these recordings could have an undesirable chilling effect,'' the bill said. "People who know they are being recorded by a body camera may be unwilling to cooperate fully with law enforcement officers if they know that a body camera recording can be made publicly available to anyone else."
But the Tallahassee-based First Amendment Foundation, which advocates for open government, asked Scott to veto the bill. (Disclosure: The News Service of Florida is a member of the foundation.)
The bill takes effect July 1.