Police Bodycam footage

[Laurence K.]

Looking for some advice.A prior tenant did some malicious damage to my property.I called police, they attended and the report said they were wearing body worn cameras. I wanted to use the camera footage as evidence in a civil case against the tenant.I was initially told that it would take 2 weeks to get the footage to me, then that blew out to several months, and now finally 6 months later they finally get back to me and tell me the footage doesn't exist, even though the initial report said cameras were activated.That footage would have shown that the tenant was making threats to damage my property (which she made good on).Do I have any recourse on the police for failing to provide the footage on a timely basis?

[Kevin Sobilo]

@Laurence K., I don't think so. It often takes new organizations similarly long times to get that sort of information. I'm sure over time more laws will be created to force the government to give that information in a more timely manner but for now they often obstruct the public by withholding it for a time.

Also, if the report said the police witnessed something I would think that would be well enough for the case. If the case was substantial, I would imaging your lawyer could subpoena the officers to have them testify to what they witnessed. 

That said, you could go to the mayor and police chief and ask what steps were taken with the involved officers. Often times police departments have policies in place REQUIRING officers to activate body cameras when interacting with the public. The officers should have been reprimanded at the least. If that isn't satisfactory speaking at a city counsel meeting about the subject would also seem appropriate.