Pennsylvania's Right to Know Law is intended to make government and its agencies more transparent, more accountable to us - the people.

It seems, though, that our elected officials too often come up with roadblocks to this noble principle.The latest is a bill approved earlier this month by the state Senate. This is one of those classic cases of "good news, bad news." The bill would expand the use of body cameras among law-enforcement officers, but here comes the bad news, at least for the public: The bill would give law enforcement agencies the discretion to skirt the Right to Know Law and decline public requests for video or audio recordings.A court could order the release of this information, footage and recordings, but the bill also reduces to just 20 days the time for an individual or group to submit an official request for the material. The original bill had a 60-day window, but the change was made at the request of Gov. Tom Wolf's office and the state police, according to the bill's sponsor and Judiciary Committee Chair, Stewart Greenleaf, R-Montgomery.The bill passed 48-0, with two senators not voting. All local lawmakers were in favor of the legislation. The measure now goes to the state House of Representatives, which rejected a similar bill last session after its passage in the Senate.While all voting Democrats were aboard, Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Allegheny, said he and some of his colleagues agreed that the bill would help provide transparency in disputed incidents, but he also said he hopes the House will make some changes to make the information from the cameras more accessible to the public.We strongly agree, urging the House either to remove the barrier to timely public access to body camera information or defeat the bill.The bill has strong support from law-enforcement organizations across the commonwealth, including the Chiefs of Police Association and the District Attorneys Association.The proposed law is just as vigorously opposed by the Pennsylvania American Civil Liberties Union and the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. We join these organizations in objecting to this heavy-handed attempt to shield what the cameras show from public view.After all, the public, regardless of where they might be positioned on the political spectrum, have indicated their favor of the use of body cameras.Although their use is nonexistent among state police officers and limited in many communities in Pennsylvania, there is no doubt that this is the coming technology.We agree with the ACLU's Executive Director Reggie Shuford, who said it simply, but effectively: "If the public cannot obtain video produced by police cameras, they shouldn't be used at all."We want to remind our lawmakers that these cameras came into being because the public was demanding fairness, accountability and, above all, transparency. This bill in its present form comes close to negating these objectives."While there is language in the bill that suggests public access is possible, the fact remains that the bill creates significant, and, in most cases, insurmountable barriers," said Holly Lubart, director of government affairs for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association."By passing SB 560 in its current form, the Senate missed an opportunity to promote public understanding of law enforcement actions and to encourage public trust that accompanies accountability," Lubart said."The police are public servants, not a secret society," said Elizabeth Randol, legislative director of the state ACLU."With this bill, legislators are thumbing their noses at people who are calling for greater transparency and accountability from their police departments."Across the nation, agencies such as the state police and municipal police departments are finding that these cameras provide an opportunity for them to strengthen the relationships they have with the communities they are serving.To put accessibility barriers to the contents of these visual and audio recordings are going to reinforce the public's suspicion and mistrust that law-enforcement has something to hide.By Bruce Frassinelli |

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