CLEVELAND — Over the years, News 5 has shown you countless clips of body camera footage we obtained at little to no cost as a way to help Ohioans understand what's going on in their community, but a new law will change that.
A provision of HB 315 explains how police could charge for the "estimated cost" of processing the video — and you would have to pay before the footage is released. Governments could charge up to $75 an hour for work, with a fee cap of $750 per request.
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The law hasn’t gone into effect and won’t until April.
Newburgh Heights Police Chief John Majoy said he appreciates the soon-to-be law because it’ll deter online bloggers from making a profit rather than using the footage for informational or educational purposes.
“That's really not what public records are designed for, and public record is the public's record. It belongs to the public. The laws weren't intended to have entities profit from it and unfortunately, that's kind of what it's evolved to and it's become a YouTube sensation or TikTok or something,” Majoy explained.
He said it’s also a very tedious process having to fulfill footage requests. As an example, he pointed to a standoff in Newburgh Heights that happened last week.
“We had 36 videos from that, and these are hours and hours of videos. To comb through that takes a long time and to start redacting things. For smaller agencies like us, it's a really big imposition so I'm pleased with the law that they put into effect, and you know it's our intention to utilize that,” Majoy added.
He said he’s not in favor of charging news outlets for body camera footage but that his department is reviewing a wide range of policies and working with other law enforcement agencies on how to move forward.
“Law enforcement has always been transparent in my eyes, and we don't have anything to hide and we're happy to share all these videos,” Majoy stated. “It's just a matter of the amount of effort it takes to do all this stuff.”
Early Thursday afternoon, two lawyers and a handful of families who have utilized body camera footage in the past for legal purposes denounced the statement regarding the level of effort it takes to fulfill video requests.
“Why not hire people to do that? Why not have a department? If they’re coming across that much, then why not hire and fill those positions for specifically that purpose? The money is there,” Dr. Shawna Barnett said.
Barnett’s then-47-year-old brother, Andre Hill, was fatally shot by a Columbus police officer in 2020.
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The officer involved, Adam Coy, claimed to have seen a revolver in the man’s right hand. Body camera footage shows Hill leaving a friend’s garage with a cell phone in his left hand, and his right hand wasn’t visible.
Coy was found guilty by a jury in late 2024. He has yet to be sentenced.
RELATED: Former Ohio officer stands trial in the 2020 shooting death of Andre Hill
“It was an invaluable thing in Andre's case. Had that footage not been there, it would have spun a whole different scenario because it could have been his word against ours, and not what you see,” Barnett added.
Another concern of hers, along with those of the other families and lawyers on the Thursday video call, is that charging the public for footage will hurt marginalized groups seeking answers.
“The intended effect… is that there's less desire of the citizens of the state to pursue claims or there's lack of an ability to pursue those claims,” Robert Gresham said.
Greshem is an attorney with The Cochran Firm. He is representing Jazmir Tucker’s family in their battle against Akron Police.
Tucker was fatally shot on Thanksgiving night in 2024 by Akron Police.
Akron Police have since released the body camera footage from that night. While officers claim Tucker had a gun in his hand, causing them to shoot the teen, the footage doesn’t confirm that.
The body camera footage reveals Tucker did have a gun in his zipped-up jacket pocket, but it’s unknown at this time if he’d ever drawn it while in the presence of officers.
RELATED: 'Deeply troubling': Body camera footage released in deadly police shooting of Akron teen
“[The video] doesn't always tell the whole entire story, and sometimes things can get blown out of proportion or they could be misconstrued,” Majoy said.
Tucker’s autopsy report shows he was shot a total of three times. Two of those shots were in the back.
“The autopsy report was traumatizing. With the body camera footage, it basically clarified that my son was not a threat, that he was running away from the officer,” Tucker’s mom, Ashley Green, said Thursday.
The investigation into Tucker’s death is still ongoing.
“My son was gunned down with a rifle. [He was] shot in the back. Without [the video], anybody could and possibly still can make up any type of lies they want to. It's very important that we have that,” Green added.
One of the many worries talked about on Thursday is requests may be delayed even longer with this new law.
“The longer the officers are allowed to not have to tell their story and the longer they have the opportunity to meet and confer and come up with a version of the story that complies with the law is more problematic for the families,” Greshem stated.
He further explained how this would complicate legal proceedings as lawsuits wouldn’t be able to be filed without the body camera footage, and lawyers wouldn’t have enough grounds to stand on.
Greshem and the other lawyer, Fanon Rucker, were asked on Thursday's call if they might either make a motion to repeal the law or sue the state.
Rucker said, “Stay tuned.”
Majoy is hopeful the law will deter miscellaneous requests in the future.
We’ll continue to follow through.
