Body camera bills in the Washington Legislature

Competing bills in the Washington Legislature regulating police body cameras:

HB 1917

• Backed by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs

• Would require someone requesting to view footage from a police camera to provide a specific date, time and location, or an incident number and the name of someone involved. Recordings could be released to people who appear in the video and their attorneys, but other requestors would have to get a court order saying the public-interest value of the video outweighs the privacy concerns for its release.

HB 1910

• Backed by the ACLU

• Specifies that recordings could only be used to investigate and prosecute police misconduct and cannot be used as evidence in court. Prohibits disclosure of any recordings unless they are flagged as having evidentiary value in a misconduct investigation, or are requested by a person appearing in the video.