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Boston City Council Approves Review of Police Body-Camera Release Rules

The vote responds to prosecutors keeping the Roxbury shooting video private.

Overview

  • The council, which approved a resolution Wednesday on a 9-3 vote, called for consistent procedures for releasing footage after police shootings.
  • The move follows nearly two weeks without public release of the Roxbury video, which Councilor Miniard Culpepper says has left families without answers.
  • Councilors Miniard Culpepper and Brian Worrell also secured a hearing order to examine Boston Police protocols for body and dashboard cameras.
  • Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden has charged Officer Nicholas O’Malley with manslaughter in the March 11 death of Stephenson King, and prosecutors say body-camera and witness accounts support the case.
  • Hayden is withholding the video during the active case and has denied records requests, a stance that has revived calls to use precedents like clergy viewing footage in a 2015 Roxbury shooting.