Alabama senator introduces bill to make body camera, dashboard footage public • Alabama Reflector

“Plaintiff brings federal constitutional charges against all defendants for committing acts under the guise of the law that deprived Jawan of his life and his rights under the Constitution of the United States,” the lawsuit says.

A grand jury last year declined to indict the officers involved. The Mobile Police Department declined to comment Wednesday. Messages seeking comment were left Wednesday with attorneys representing the Dallas family and the city of Mobile.

According to Al.comDallas’ family reviewed bodycam footage of the incident last November. Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said at the time that “the cause of death in this case was clearly due to cardiovascular failure and mixed drug intoxication.”

Alabama has a long history of poor records disclosure laws. Lawmakers passed a law earlier this year Setting specific time frames for government agencies to respond to public records requests. But bodycam footage was excluded from the law. The Senate Judiciary Committee last spring rejected a separate bill from Coleman that would require the release of body camera footage.

Governor Kay Ivey in 2023 signed an invoice sponsored by Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, which allowed body camera footage to be shared with the “personal representative” of “a person whose image or voice is the subject of the recording.” The law does not require a law enforcement agency to share the footage, even if doing so would impact an ongoing investigation.

Coleman’s bill currently sets a deadline for publication within 30 days of a written request for payment of the fee, “which shall not exceed the actual cost of producing the recording.” She said they were not trying to interfere with anyone’s investigation.

“So I’m opening the door to people who want to talk about: What can we do to compromise to get the bill passed?” she said.

The Legislature begins its 2025 session in February.