Kent Police Department ordered to pay fine, release requested footage from traffic stop
The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled against the Kent Police Department in a case involving the release of body-camera footage.
In an unanimous opinion, the court has ordered the department to pay a $1,000 in statutory damages and release all video footage from an April 2022 incident to Matthew Lusane, who requested the material the same day the incident took place.
Court documents state Lusane was seeking footage from a traffic stop. A woman was pulled over in Kent for an alleged lane violation and OVI refusal, both misdemeanors. Why he was seeking the records is unclear as requesters are not required to explain themselves under Ohio law.
Lusane hand-delivered his request for "any and all officer body camera and cruiser dash camera video" produced from the encounter on April 1, 2022.
The footage from officers' body cameras and cruiser dashboard cameras were turned over to Lusane, but only up to the point of the arrest. The footage of the arrest itself was withheld. According to the department, the excluded material was immune from Ohio public records law.
On April 4, he hand-delivered another request for all anonymous and citizen calls connected to the same report. That same day, Police Captain Jennifer Ennemoser emailed Lusane with the recorded call attached. Lusane then requested the video footage for a second time.
His request was denied by Ennemoser on April 5. Ennemoser said that because the case was still open, the prosecutor was required to release the video.
Kathy Coleman, secretary to the police chief, then emailed Lusane claiming that because of the matter was pending, the department was prohibited from releasing the footage and suggested Lusane talk to the prosecutor about a motion for discovery.
Lusane replied and Coleman answered, saying that because the case was open, the footage fell under the protection of confidential law enforcement investigatory records.
Lusane ultimately asked the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to force the city to release all the footage he requested and to grant him damages because of the department's refusal to comply with public records law.
The court's opinion states that the department failed to explain why the requested materials should be considered confidential and shielded from release.
Kent's law director, Hope Jones, represented the department in the matter. Jones was not immediately available for comment.
Contact reporter Derek Kreider at DKreider@Gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Ohio Supreme Court orders Kent police to release body-camera footage
