Report Finds Police Departments Often Withhold Evidence In Officer-Related Cases

 

Police withheld footage of an officer shooting and killing 26-year-old Daniel Fuller for months—and his family said waiting for the video to be released was “pure agony.”

An autopsy report found that Fuller died from a gunshot wound to the back of his head during a struggle with an officer in July 2018. Authorities only released footage of the incident months later, after prosecutors said the officer did not intend to fire his gun and won’t face criminal charges.

A new report found that police departments often withhold footage of officer-involved shootings from the public and press, by citing exemptions meant to protect ongoing investigations. Body camera footage was also delayed for 13 months in Chicago after 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was shot and killed by a Chicago officer. The officer said she shot McDonald after he failed to comply with orders and made a threatening move toward police. But the released video showed him walking away from the officer.

A team with the Associated Press requested video footage of roughly 20 incidents involving the police across the U.S.—the report found that only one of the requests was fulfilled. The rest of the requests were either rejected or delayed.

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