Republican lawmaker: ‘Biased’ videos from police body cameras create ‘altered version’ of reality

Regional News

Audio By Carbonatix

Sen. John Kavanagh doesn’t believe his eyes when he sees video from police body cameras, which he calls “extremely untrustworthy.”

A majority of his fellow senators seemed to agree, and approved a bill that casts doubts on the validity of the evidence produced by the newest tool in modern policing.

Senators voted, 19-11, to approve SB1253, which police unions are pushing. The bill requires a notice explaining that video depictions don’t always mirror reality and may differ from memory to be read to officers involved in violent confrontations caught on officers’ body cameras. The scripted notice also tells police not to feel obligated to explain any differences between the video and their memories of the event.

Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, put it another way, arguing that SB1253 will allow officers to first watch body camera videos so they can “basically explain away things” the video portrays.

“These recordings create an unbelievably altered version of what reality is,” he said during a debate on the floor of the Arizona Senate. “What’s going on in that camera is in the eyes of the beholder.”

Police video cameras are biased, Kavanagh added: “The biases are unbelievable.”