Can you request dashcam video from police.?
I was ticketed and believe the police was wrong.can I get the video if there was one and how could I ask for it.
Answers:
Although the dash cam video is property of the police department, if you are in a case where you are trying to prove innocence you and your lawyer have the right to request the video. If they can use it to prove innocence or guiltiness, than you can use it to.
Most police departments have written procedures for obtaining the video. For instance, ours, you have to write to the prosecutor, explaining why you need it and he will generally tell the police to give it to you. It's a fairly stupid system since the prosecutor really has no control over the tapes. Others you may just have to contact someone in records and pay a fee. Call the PD and ask them.
Or you could just subpoena the information for court.
Just to make something clear though. Dashcams aren't designed to record everything. Just the actual car stops and the officer's interaction with the public during the stops. The camera turns on when the red and blue lights on the car turn on. So if you don't believe you are guilty of a moving violation, any information like that probably won't be on the tape and can't help you. because the camera probably wasn't recording when the officer observed the violation. It would get pretty expensive to have a tape just recording all shift.
If you have a problem with the officer's actions during the stop (how he talked to you, ect), that information will be on it.
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