The fee Louisiana State Police charges to the public to provide video footage from body cameras and vehicle dashboards is now permanent after being applied temporarily for the past year.
The law enforcement agency requires $10 for video recordings 20 minutes or less and 50 cents more for every additional minute beyond that timeframe. State police had been using this fee schedule for a year through an emergency declaration and adopted it permanently through a new government rule published last week.
The fees also apply to any video footage state police releases from a third-party security camera.
Body and dashboard camera footage is often sought when law enforcement officers are suspected of wrongdoing, such as using excessive force during an arrest or motor vehicle stop. The videos can also be used to clear an officer of misconduct allegations.
Louisiana State Police reported an uptick in video records requests. In 2024, it received 980 public records requests for body-worn camera footage. The average number of videos per request was four, according to a state financial analysis of the rule.
State troopers started wearing body cameras in 2017, and the increase in requests followed the release of footage in 2021 that made national headlines when the Associated Press reported on its contents. Those videos taken in 2019 showed troopers beating motorist Ronald Greene and restraining him face down on a Northeast Louisiana roadside. Initially, state police claimed Greene, who was Black, died instantly after hitting a tree during a high-speed car chase.
The footage made it clear Greene was not dead and, in fact, pleading for mercy from the troopers after the crash. He only went limp and became unresponsive several minutes after the troopers shackled him.
It’s unclear what state police had been charging the public for its video footage before 2024. Capt. Russell Graham, a spokesman for the agency, said the fees were likely “inconsistent” across the state when asked about the previous rates.
“There has been an increase in records requests for dashcam and bodycam footage, and this does take a considerable amount of time and effort on the part of our agency,” Graham said in email Thursday. “Personnel have to review every second of every video that is a responsive record.”
Graham said the software used to review the video and to make redactions when required also costs the agency money.
“While these fees do not recoup all of the funds expended, it was determined to be a reasonable and appropriate amount to defer the costs,” he wrote.
