Editorial: Police video stays secret too often

Not long ago, police body and dashboard cameras were hailed for their potential to promote transparency and accountability. The technology could build trust in law enforcement, the theory went.

That idea has been shattered. In case after case, many law enforcement agencies in Iowa and elsewhere have refused to release video in cases involving use of force or other police actions — if the video exists at all.

The causes of trust and truth failed in the Minneapolis police shooting of Justine Ruszczyk, an unarmed Australian woman. In that case, the two officers did not turn on the body cameras they were wearing when Ruszczyk approached their patrol car after she called 911. The mayor and the police chief of Minneapolis say Ruszczyk should not have been shot, and the chief has resigned.

In other cases, the video exists but police refuse to release it.

Consider an April case in West Des Moines, where a woman staying at the Motel 6 at 7655 Office Plaza Drive N. reported being sexually assaulted by a Hispanic man in her room. Police arrested Matthew Rodrigues outside the hotel. He was held in jail for 11 days before a judge said Rodrigues "does not appear to be the person who perpetrated the crime" and dropped the charges. Rodrigues believes he was targeted by police due to the color of his skin.

The Register filed an open records request with the city of West Des Moines seeking any dash camera recordings or other video documenting Rodrigues' questioning by officers and his arrest. Jason Palmer, an attorney representing the city, declined to release the video, citing an "ongoing investigation."

Is Rodrigues still under investigation, even though charges were dismissed and another man was charged in the sex assault? The city isn’t saying.

The “ongoing investigation” justification has allowed police to keep records confidential for as long as they like, even when there is no active investigation.

Another example is the police shooting of Autumn Steele in Burlington. The family and the Burlington Hawk Eye newspaper have fought since her death on Jan. 6, 2015, to see the full video and other records in the case.

Authorities have released only 12 seconds of the video showing Burlington Police Officer Jesse Hill accidentally shooting Steele when he fired at her attacking dog. The Iowa Public Information Board has charged the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and Burlington and Des Moines County officials with breaking Iowa’s public records law for its refusal. Yet the case drags on, as the Iowa attorney general’s office continues to defend the DCI’s actions.

You might have to go outside Iowa to find signs of public officials defending the public interest. The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled this month that police videos are public records and should be released in most cases.

New Jersey newspapers had sought records related to the 2014 fatal police shooting of Kashad Ashford, a criminal suspect who led police on a high-speed chase through several Bergen County towns. A lower court agreed with the state that disclosure of the videos would undermine investigations and unnecessarily put the officers involved at risk.

The Supreme Court disagreed, saying “the public’s interest in transparency favors disclosure.”

Chief Justice Stuart Rabner wrote that withholding video "can undermine confidence in law enforcement and the work that officers routinely perform. It can also fuel the perception that information is being concealed — a concern that is enhanced when law enforcement officials occasionally reveal footage that exculpates officers."

The chief justice has hit on an important point: Police are often all too eager to release video that shows officers in a positive light or justifies their use of force. But otherwise?

Sorry, that’s under investigation.