Bill Text: NJ A5065 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes "End Crimes to Clicks Act"; limits disclosure of body worn camera recordings under State's open public records law.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-12-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Public Safety and Preparedness Committee [A5065 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A5065-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman PAUL KANITRA
District 10 (Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes "End Crimes to Clicks Act"; limits disclosure of body worn camera recordings under State's open public records law.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning body worn camera recordings and supplementing Title 40A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "End Crimes to Clicks Act."
2. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. Law enforcement officers and defendants have expressed concern over the commercialization of body worn camera recordings containing interactions with law enforcement;
b. As of 2024, there has been a recent increase in the number of law enforcement interactions recorded by body worn cameras that have been uploaded to online platforms;
c. These body worn camera recordings may be edited to purposefully damage the reputation of law enforcement officers, victims, bystanders, and defendants;
d. No person or business should be profiting from body worn camera recordings of interactions between law enforcement officers and suspects;
e. It is corrosive and detrimental to the good of society and the citizens of this State for the government to assist a person or business in providing this kind of entertainment to the public;
f. The provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) will protect the rights of defendants to obtain a body worn camera recording where the defendant is a subject of the recording; and
g. The provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) will not restrain or abridge freedom of speech or of the press as it preserves the right of private individuals to record, publish, and disseminate recordings of interactions with law enforcement utilizing the individual's equipment.
3. a. In addition to any other law, rule, or regulation exempting body worn camera recordings from public disclosure, body worn camera recordings shall be exempt from disclosure pursuant to P.L.1963, c.73 (C.47:1A-1 et seq.), commonly known as the open public records act, unless the person requesting the body worn camera recording is a subject of the body worn camera recording or the legal next of kin of the subject if the subject is deceased.
b. As used in this act:
"Body worn camera" means a mobile audio and video recording system worn by a law enforcement officer.
"Law enforcement officer" means a person whose public duties include the power to act as an officer for the detection, apprehension, arrest, and conviction of offenders against the laws of this State.
"Subject of the body worn camera recording" means any law enforcement officer, suspect, victim, detainee, conversant, injured party, or other similarly situated person who appears on the body worn camera recording, and shall not include a person who only incidentally appears on the recording.
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill limits the disclosure of body worn camera recordings under the State's open public records act (OPRA).
Under the provisions of this bill, in addition to any other law, rule, or regulation exempting body worn camera recordings from public disclosure, body worn camera recordings are exempt from disclosure under OPRA unless the person requesting the body worn camera recording is a subject of the recording or the legal next of kin if the subject is deceased.
The bill defines "body worn camera" as a mobile audio and video recording system worn by a law enforcement officer. The bill also defines "subject of the body worn camera recording" as any law enforcement officer, suspect, victim, detainee, conversant, injured party, or other similarly situated person who appears on the body worn camera recording, and shall not include a person who only incidentally appears on the recording.
