Wisconsin 2023-2024 Regular Session

Wisconsin Assembly Bill AB1224 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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3	3	2023 - 2024 LEGISLATURE
4	4	2023 ASSEMBLY BILL 1224
5	5	April 11, 2024 - Introduced by Representatives CLANCY, STUBBS, HONG, BALDEH and
6	6	MADISON, cosponsored by Senators LARSON and ROYS. Referred to Committee
7	7	on Criminal Justice and Public Safety.
8	8	*AUTHORS SUBJECT TO CHANGE*
9	9	AN ACT to amend 165.87 (1) (c) and (d), 165.87 (3) (e) and 175.47 (5) (b); and to
10	10	create 66.0511 (4) of the statutes; relating to: release of audio and video
11	11	footage following officer-involved deaths or other critical incidents involving a
12	12	law enforcement officer.
13	13	Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
14	14	Current law provides what data from body camera footage a law enforcement
15	15	agency must keep confidential in response to an open records request and provides
16	16	when reports to the district attorney following an officer-involved death must be
17	17	released to the public and what material may be deleted from those reports.
18	18	This bill creates a requirement for law enforcement agencies to release data to
19	19	the public if the data relate to certain incidents. The incidents for which data must
20	20	be released are an officer-involved death, any occurrence that results in great bodily
21	21	harm or death in the presence or custody of a law enforcement officer regardless of
22	22	whether it was caused by the law enforcement officer, or an incident involving a
23	23	death if the incident also involves a discharge of a firearm by a law enforcement
24	24	officer regardless of the cause of death. The bill defines “data” to include footage from
25	25	a law enforcement body camera or car camera, audio recordings of emergency phone
26	26	calls, video captured by a law enforcement agency, and other video or recordings from
27	27	the public that the law enforcement agency possesses. The bill provides that the law
28	28	enforcement agency must release the data within 15 days of the incident.
29	29	The bill exempts certain data from the requirement to be released. Under the
30	30	bill, a law enforcement agency may redact, distort, edit, or withhold the exempted
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36	36	ASSEMBLY BILL 1224
37	37	data in accordance with the exemption. Data that are exempted include data that
38	38	are required to be kept confidential under law; data that are requested to be kept
39	39	confidential by a crime victim; and data that are redacted or edited to protect privacy
40	40	interests, to obscure nudity or disturbing images, or to protect the identity of
41	41	confidential informants or other strategies for crime detection or investigation.
42	42	Under the bill, if a law enforcement agency alters data as permitted by the bill, the
43	43	agency must retain the unaltered data.
44	44	Under the bill, a law enforcement agency that is subject to the bill's requirement
45	45	to release data must make reasonable attempts to notify others within 48 hours of
46	46	the incident that creates the requirement to release the data. The persons who must
47	47	be notified are an individual who is permitted to request that the data be altered, an
48	48	employee of the law enforcement agency that can be identified in the data and any
49	49	union representative of the employee, the office of the district attorney, and an
50	50	individual who can be identified in the data if the individual is under 18 or a victim.
51	51	The bill does not change current law regarding data from body cameras that are
52	52	not covered by this bill.
53	53	For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be
54	54	printed as an appendix to this bill.
55	55	The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
56	56	enact as follows:
57	57	SECTION 1. 66.0511 (4) of the statutes is created to read:
58	58	66.0511 (4) RELEASE OF DATA TO PUBLIC. (a) In this subsection:
59	59	1. “Critical incident” means any occurrence of great bodily harm, as defined in
60	60	s. 939.22 (14), or death to an individual in the presence or custody of a law
61	61	enforcement officer regardless of whether it was caused by the law enforcement
62	62	officer.
63	63	2. “Data” includes all data from a body camera, data from a camera from a
64	64	vehicle used by a law enforcement officer, audio recordings of emergency phone calls,
65	65	video or other recordings captured by a law enforcement agency, and video or other
66	66	recordings captured by members of the public that are in the possession of a law
67	67	enforcement agency.
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83	83	3. “Release” means to make viewable and printable to the public via a digital
84	84	platform at no charge.
85	85	4. “Victim” has the meaning given in s. 950.02 (4) (a)
86	86	(b) A law enforcement agency shall release data relating to any of the following
87	87	incidents within 15 days of the incident:
88	88	1. Subject to s. 175.47 (5) (b), an officer-involved death, as defined in s. 175.47
89	89	(1) (c), involving an officer employed by the law enforcement agency.
90	90	2. A critical incident involving a law enforcement officer employed by the law
91	91	enforcement agency.
92	92	3. An incident involving the death of an individual if the incident involved the
93	93	discharge of a firearm by a law enforcement officer employed by the law enforcement
94	94	agency regardless of whether the death resulted from the firearm discharge.
95	95	(c) Data released under par. (b) shall include at a minimum data relating to the
96	96	actions and events leading up to the incident, including video and audio if available.
97	97	A law enforcement agency is not required to release duplicative or redundant data
98	98	except that, if a member of the public requests a copy of data released under par. (b),
99	99	the law enforcement agency shall provide the data in the form requested and may
100	100	charge only for the actual cost of the materials needed to provide the data in that
101	101	form.
102	102	(d) The following data are exempt from the requirement under par. (b) and the
103	103	data may be redacted, distorted, or edited, or withheld completely, in accordance with
104	104	the confidentiality afforded by the exemption:
105	105	1. Data that are covered by 18 USC 2721.
106	106	2. Records that are confidential under s. 48.396 (1), 165.68 (4) (d) 1., or 938.396
107	107	(1) (a).
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135	135	3. Data that are requested to be kept confidential by an adult victim of a crime
136	136	that is pertinent to the data if the victim is identifiable in the data; by a parent or
137	137	legal guardian of a victim of a crime that is pertinent to the data if the victim is not
138	138	an adult and is identifiable in the data; or by an adult family member or cohabitant
139	139	of a deceased victim of a crime that is pertinent to the data if the victim is identifiable
140	140	in the data.
141	141	4. Data that are redacted or edited for any of the following reasons:
142	142	a. To protect the privacy interests of individuals who are identifiable in the
143	143	data.
144	144	b. To obscure images depicting nudity or great bodily injury or to obscure
145	145	images or sounds that could be disturbing.
146	146	c. To protect confidential medical or mental health information.
147	147	d. To protect the identity of an informant.
148	148	e. To prevent the disclosure of confidential strategies for crime detection,
149	149	prevention, and investigation.
150	150	f. To prevent the loss of state or federal aid.
151	151	g. To prevent a security risk at a secured facility.
152	152	h. To mitigate a particularized, specific risk to a specified person's safety.
153	153	(e) A law enforcement agency may not alter data that are subject to the
154	154	requirement under par. (b) except as provided in par. (d), and if a law enforcement
155	155	agency alters data as provided in par. (d), the law enforcement agency must retain
156	156	the unaltered data consistent with its records retention policy.
157	157	(f) 1. A law enforcement agency that has possession of data that may be subject
158	158	to alteration under par. (d) at the request of another person shall make reasonable
159	159	attempts to notify the person and provide the person an opportunity to review the
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187	187	SECTION 1
188	188	ASSEMBLY BILL 1224
189	189	data within 48 hours of the incident. This subdivision does not apply if there is
190	190	reasonable suspicion that the person is a witness to or otherwise involved in the
191	191	incident.
192	192	2. A law enforcement agency that has possession of data that are subject to the
193	193	requirement under par. (b) shall notify the following persons, or an attorney
194	194	representing the person, at least 48 hours before release and provide the following
195	195	persons an opportunity to review the data before release:
196	196	a. An employee of the law enforcement agency who can be identified in the data
197	197	or who is significantly involved in the incident that is the subject of the data and any
198	198	union that represents the employee.
199	199	b. An individual who can be identified in the data if an employee of the law
200	200	enforcement agency used force against him or her.
201	201	c. An individual who can be identified in the data if the individual is under 18
202	202	years of age.
203	203	d. An individual who can be identified in the data if the individual is a victim
204	204	of a crime that is pertinent to the data.
205	205	e. The office of the district attorney with jurisdiction.
206	206	SECTION 2. 165.87 (1) (c) and (d) of the statutes are amended to read:
207	207	165.87 (1) (c) Train all employees that use, maintain, store, or release data from
208	208	a body camera on the policy under par. (a) and on the requirements under subs. (2)
209	209	and (3) and s. 66.0511 (4).
210	210	(d) Periodically review practices regarding the body cameras and data from
211	211	body cameras to ensure compliance with the policy under par. (a) and the
212	212	requirements under subs. (2) and (3) and s. 66.0511 (4).
213	213	SECTION 3. 165.87 (3) (e) of the statutes is amended to read:
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240	240	SECTION 3 ASSEMBLY BILL 1224
241	241	165.87 (3) (e) Nothing This subsection does not apply to data that are subject
242	242	to s. 66.0511 (4) (b), and nothing in this subsection prohibits the release of data from
243	243	a body camera under s. 175.47 (5) (b).
244	244	SECTION 4. 175.47 (5) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
245	245	175.47 (5) (b) If the district attorney determines there is no basis to prosecute
246	246	the law enforcement officer involved in the officer-involved death, the investigators
247	247	conducting the investigation under sub. (3) (a) shall release the report, except that
248	248	the investigators shall, before releasing the report, delete any information that
249	249	would not be subject to disclosure pursuant to a request release under s. 19.35 (1) (a)
250	250	66.0511 (4) (d).
251	251	(END)
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