Mayor Muriel Bowser has signed a law requiring the temporary release of body camera footage when it shows federal agents and other non-city police officers using serious or fatal force.
The Body-Worn Camera Transparency for Use of Force Emergency Amendment Act went into effect once it was signed Monday. It amends existing law and stipulates that any Metropolitan Police Department recordings of officer-involved deaths or serious use of force by personnel of other agencies be released.
Because it was passed as emergency legislation, the new law will last for 90 days, until June 21.
But Ms. Bowser vetoed the Full Accountability in Arrest Reporting Emergency Amendment Act Monday, which would have required MPD officers to provide “identifying information for all law enforcement officers present at the scene of an arrest and any use of force in documentation supporting the arrest,” such as an affidavit.
Earlier this month, Ms. Bowser expressed opposition to both bills on jurisdictional grounds. In a letter to D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, she said “this is a federal issue that should be handled by the Congress. Congress has oversight over federal law enforcement agencies and can require a mask prohibition (which they are debating now) as well as body-worn cameras and name identification.”
In a second letter to Mr. Mendelson after signing the body camera footage bill into law, the mayor wrote that while she still thinks the issue should fall under the purview of Congress, “this emergency legislation closely aligns with current District laws and policies related to the serious use of force and automatic release of body worn camera footage and identification of involved officers that the Metropolitan Police Department officers currently operate within.”
The council passed both bills unanimously, with each getting the votes of all 13 members. Council member Robert White, the at-large Democrat who introduced the vetoed bill, asked rhetorically on X, “Why approve one and not the other, when both passed unanimously?”
The mayoral veto does not mean that the Full Accountability in Arrest Reporting Emergency Act is off the table. The D.C. Council will now reconsider the bill, and if at least two-thirds of the council vote in favor, it will still be passed into law.
