I am writing today regarding the upcoming 12/08/2020 10am Washoe County Commissioners meeting specifically consent agenda item 6G.
[The] Washoe County Sheriff's office is seeking approval from the county to charge a fee of $200 per hour for body cam footage redaction.
The commissioners are set to approve this outrageous fee.
Which basically is for mostly redaction of the officers faces.
I question if that is even required under the NRS!!! [The Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) are the current codified laws of the State of Nevada. The Statutes of Nevada are a compilation of all legislation passed by the Nevada Legislature during a particular Legislative Session.]
I do believe Las Vegas Metro do not blur out the officers faces!
How many of us average citizens can afford to pay a $200 per hour fee to obtain footage that should be FREE .
What about TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY!
After all, isn't that what the body cam law was passed to promote?
There are people who need that footage for example if they have a criminal case or perhaps to prove excessive force or unbecoming behavior of a deputy!
I think the media should be all over this what will be a HUGE BARRIER for the public and it's wrong.
Especially in [a] time when Washoe County has had 4 deadly police involved deaths in 2020 alone!
[Washoe County] Sheriff [Darin] Balaam talked a lot of talk when George Floyd was killed but he seems to be doing just the opposite of what he preached then about transparency and accountability to the COMMUNITY!!!
This should be all over the news so the public is aware!
As someone whose brother Thomas Purdy was one of three men asphyxiated to death by the deputies up at Parr [location of Washoe jail], I can assure you how important the videos were to providing the TRUTH to the public and my family as to what actually happened to my brother because the narrative, we got from the police WAS NOWHERE NEAR what actually transpired.
In fact, RGJ had to sue the jail for the asphyxiation death of Justin Thompson. Please get this information out to the community!!!