Idaho House panel introduces body camera retention bill

An Idaho House panel has introduced legislation on new video retention requirements for police body cameras.

In Idaho, individual police departments decide whether or not they want to implement body-worn cameras because there is no statewide policy on the practice. This has sparked debate over the best guidelines on retention, as well as how much police footage should be released to the public.

Teresa Baker, with the Idaho Association of Counties, says the costs of storing police video footage can be crippling for some local jurisdictions.

Her organization is backing legislation that would allow police departments to dispose of media files roughly six months after they were recorded, depending on the contents of the footage. It also requires public records requests to cite the date, time, specific location and name of the persons involved in the media recording in order to acquire the footage.

The House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee introduced the proposal Monday. It must now clear a legislative hearing.