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Court: California agencies can't charge to edit police video

Court: California agencies can't charge to edit police video
Posted at 2:34 PM, May 28, 2020
and last updated 2020-05-28 17:34:51-04

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The California Supreme Court ruled that governments must bear the costs of redacting police body camera video before making it public.

The decision was hailed by media organizations but will be costly for cities and counties.

The court unanimously rejected the city of Hayward's attempt to charge the National Lawyer Guild's San Francisco Bay Area chapter more than $3,200.

Media groups said allowing governments to charge for editing the footage would have threatened public access to all electronic records.

Hayward city officials declined comment.

Spokeswomen for the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties did not immediately comment.