RESOLUTION BY GREENSBORO CITY COUNCIL

TO
THE NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
WHEREAS, cities all across our Nation and State face historic challenges of race
and policing; and
WHEREAS, the Citizens of Greensboro, along with cities across the nation, are
engaging in serious ongoing dialogue to better understand the history of policing in our
city and to take action seeking solutions to what many experience as an abuse of
police power, whether explicit or implicit and
WHEREAS, the intensity of these national and local dialogues has increased
significantly since the tragic police shooting in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014 and the
continued police shooting deaths of many others thereafter, and
WHEREAS, the recent tragic shooting deaths by police in Minneapolis and Baton
Rouge have further intensified the appearance that people of color, particularly African
Americans, have become targets of police abuse and violence, and
WHEREAS, the recent tragic shooting deaths of five Dallas police officers and
wounding of others has added to the intensity of debate and divided the people of our
nation and its cities, and
WHEREAS, these issues present profound moral and legal issues that risk
fracturing our communities, and
WHEREAS, a divided nation cannot stand strong and cannot achieve its goal of
being the United States of America with equal justice for All, and
WHEREAS, one important tool for insuring transparency and accountability in
arriving at truth and justice to the end that all lives matter is public access to all police
video recordings of these incidents past, present, or future, and
WHEREAS, public access to police video will serve to equally benefit citizens
and law enforcement alike in the search for the truth, and
WHEREAS, the Peoples Ordinance (Attached) regarding the release of police
video provides an appropriate balance between the publics right to know, such right
being essential to a self-governing democracy, and the reasonable protection of
individual privacy rights and the rights of the State and those accused in criminal
investigations and prosecutions, and
WHEREAS, the recent passage by the General Assembly and signing by the
Governor of HB 972 (also known as the Faircloth Bill) fails to strike any balance
between those above rights and interests and instead makes public release of police

video nearly impossible and, further, HB 972 denies the right of Greensboro and other
city residents to enact through their elected city councils any ordinance or policy
providing for public access to police video subject to reasonable exceptions,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT GREENSBORO CITY COUNCIL:
1) HEREBY calls on the General Assembly to immediately repeal HB 972 (the
Faircloth Bill), and
2) HEREBY challenges the General Assemblys usurpation of our basic right of
local self-government and enacts and adopts, regardless of the action of the General
Assembly, the Peoples Ordinance to provide for the policy and procedure by which to
determine if and when Greensboro police video of any type should be released to an
individual requester or the public in general.

BE IT SO RESOLVED THIS ___ DAY OF JULY, 2016

_____________________________
City of Greensboro Council

SEE PEOPLES ORDINANCE ATTACHED

Developed 07/14/2016

THE PEOPLES ORDINANCE

Ordinance Making Police Body Worn and Vehicle Camera Footage Public
Records
with Provisions to Redact or Withhold For a Compelling Reason

1. Purpose.
a) The purpose of this Ordinance is to bring Greensboro City policy with regard to
Greensboro police body worn and vehicle camera footage (hereafter police camera
footage) into compliance: (1) with fundamental principles of open government, good
government, and public access to the information necessary to exercise their
responsibility as self-governing citizens able to hold government accountable for equal
protection under the law; (2) with 2013 City Council Resolution authorizing use of body
camera by Greensboro police so as to enhance public legitimacy and transparency;
and, (3) with the demands of current law for accessibility to public records and, where
required, confidentiality.

b) Police camera footage will serve to support the majority of police officers who
perform their duties with professionalism. It will also help to expose police misconduct
when it occurs, allowing for corrective measures to be taken in a transparent way that
will inspire public confidence. Designation of police camera footage as public records,
with reasonable exceptions required by law as delineated below, is vital to
determination of truth and justice for all.

2. Status of Police Camera Footage.

a) Because police camera footage is made or received in connection with the
transaction of public business, upon the taking or initiation of police camera footage
of any kind the footage, in whatever form taken or stored, such footage shall be
labeled a public record.

b) Police camera footage may be made a part of a police officers personnel file or
disciplinary file but placement in the personnel file or disciplinary file does not remove
or limit the status of the footage as being a public record.

3. Access by the Public to Police Camera Footage

a) Anyone wishing to view and/or obtain a copy of police camera footage may make a
written or oral request to the Chief of Police, or her/his designee, providing details
sufficient to identify the footage requested.

b) The Chief of Police, or his/her designee, shall make the requested footage available
for viewing and/or provide a copy of the footage subject to the provisions, limitations
below.

4. Limitations on Public Access Based Upon Compelling Reason.

a) Certain specific situations may justify exceptions to the general rule of public access
to police camera footage. Those exceptions fall into three categories:
1) Release of the footage would prevent or seriously obstruct a criminal
investigation or the gathering of criminal intelligence information;
2) Release of the footage would violate important and compelling privacy rights
of any individual depicted in the footage, as determined by city council;
3) Release of the footage would jeopardize the right of the State to prosecute a
defendant or the right of a defendant to receive a fair trial or will undermine an
ongoing or future investigation.

b) Unless falling within the meaning of any of the three exceptions listed in 4. a) above,
the assertion by anyone, including the officer recording the camera footage, that footage
should be withheld or redacted because it is part of a personnel record is invalid and
does not alter the status of footage as being a public record available to the people.

5. Process to Restrict or Withhold Footage from Public Access

The Chief of Police, or his/her designee, may submit a petition to City Council, or its
designee, in writing within 15 days of the request to view or copy footage seeking to
invoke any of the three exceptions listed above. The petition must provide facts
attested by affidavit purporting to demonstrate that at least one of the three exceptions
is applicable.

6. Criteria for Determination of Whether to Limit Public Access to Footage.

a) City Council shall schedule the petition as an agenda item at its next scheduled
Council Meeting, or as soon thereafter as possible, and determine whether the
petition provides a legitimate compelling reason to allow one of the exceptions above
and thus restrict public access to that specific footage.

b) Any decision to limit full public access shall require a two-thirds vote of council.

c) Any decision to limit public access shall be the most narrow restriction necessary to
accommodate the compelling interest asserted in the petition. Redactions are
preferred in lieu of withholding the total footage from public access.

d) Requests for public access to footage, any petition seeking restrictions on public
access, the meeting, the decision by City Council and how members vote shall be
considered public records.

7. Judicial Remedies Preserved

Nothing herein shall prevent any one affected by these actions from seeking judicial
remedies provided by law.

Developed 07/14/2016