As Body Cameras Become Commonplace, a Debate Over When to Release the Footage

The question of timing has become an unsettled new frontier of policymaking as the use of police body cameras is more the rule rather than the exception.

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — Ma’Khia Bryant had been dead only a few hours when the authorities in Columbus, Ohio, released body camera footage from the police officer who had shot and killed her. Andrew Brown Jr. was killed by sheriff’s deputies in Elizabeth City, N.C., nearly two weeks ago, and it could be many more weeks — or even months — before video of his death is publicly shown. As body-worn cameras have become more commonplace, and public pressure on officials to take police accountability more seriously has mounted, so too have demands to quickly release the footage of violent or fatal encounters between law enforcement officers and citizens. A video can mean the difference between drawing attention or dying in obscurity.