With the proliferation of Flock and Axon AI-powered cameras in towns across the United States, the proliferation of public surveillance could be the top topic of 2026 and beyond. Groups like Deflock, which offers an open-source map of flock cameras, are bringing awareness to how ubiquitous these cameras are becoming and how dangerous they are. Because, no matter what police departments say, it is neither normal nor safe for them to use flock cameras to track a driver over 500 times or for 17 Georgia police to illegally use flock cameras to chase people.
Automated license plate readers (ALPRs) are highlighting privacy concerns and with the ability for law enforcement to ignore those concerns as they wish, it’s natural to wonder about the state of body cam use and footage across the country. Some police departments are considering integrating agentic AI into body cams, which would turn them into a tool to “predict” and “predict” threats – heavy air quotes here because artificial intelligence is not particularly good at reasoning on its own and comes to flawed conclusions.
Who can legally view police body cam footage, and how can the public obtain said footage? Do body cams create accountability? The answer to the first question is that, technically, almost anyone can request body cam footage from the police. In many cases, making the footage public is also required by law. To view the footage, an interested person typically must submit a public information request, such as FOIA requestBut specific to the locality and concerned department.
However, whether you ever receive the information you requested is a different matter. And even if you do get approval to watch the video, you may not be able to afford it.
Body cam policy is a state and city matter
At the end of the day, exactly who can request access to body cam footage from a police department and who can’t depends on the state in question. Additionally, only a few states require police to wear body cams, so there may not be any footage to request depending on where you live. Currently, body cams are required in Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Carolina, although they are still widely used in fragments outside these states.
Most states have laws regarding who can access police body cam footage, how to do so, and what leeway a police department has in modifying information or refusing to release footage. according to Reporters Committee for Freedom of the PressIowa, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Virginia have proposed laws regarding public access to police body cam footage that have not yet been enacted. Alabama and Hawaii have no such laws, while Alaska, Maine, New Mexico, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Vermont have passed laws that leave the question of public access undecided.
All other states have laws defining the limits and requirements of public access to body cam footage. To check details of your state, go to map hereAnd click on your state, which will load the relevant law. Many states allow police to withhold body cam footage to keep victims or others recorded anonymously, or to edit footage to redact sensitive information and physical harm.
Despite public access to police body cam footage being widely permitted, a 2023 ProPublica The survey found that footage of most deaths at the hands of police is missing or withheld.
