DuPage County Sheriff's Office properly denied body camera footage under Body Camera Act

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Dear

This determination letter is issued pursuant to section 9.5(c) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). 1 For the reasons set forth below, the Public Access Bureau concludes that this Request for Review is unfounded.

On November 21, 2024, you submitted a FOIA request to the DuPage County Sheriff' s Office ( Sheriff' s Office) seeking records, including body- worn camera footage, pertaining to an incident that took place at a certain house on October 6, 2024. That same day, the Sheriff' s Office denied the body- worn camera footage pursuant to section 7(1)(c) of FOIA. 2 On December 10, 2024, you submitted a Request for Review contesting the denial of the body camera footage.

Section 7.5(cc) of FOIA3 expressly exempts from inspection and copying r]ecordings made under the Law Enforcement Officer-Worn Body Camera Act, except to the Recordings made with the use of an officer-worn body camera are not subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, except that:

1) if the subject of the encounter has a reasonable expectation of privacy, at the time of the recording, any recording which is flagged, due to the filing of a complaint, discharge of a firearm, use of force, arrest or detention, or resulting death or bodily harm, shall be disclosed in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act if:

A) the subject of the encounter captured on the recording is a victim or witness; and B) the law enforcement agency obtains written permission of the subject or the subject' s legal representative;

2) except as provided in paragraph (1) of this subsection ( b), any recording which is flagged due to the filing of a complaint, discharge of a firearm, use of force, arrest or detention, or resulting death or bodily harm shall be disclosed in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act; and 3) upon request, the law enforcement agency shall disclose, in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, the recording to the subject of the encounter captured on the recording or to the subject's attorney, or the officer or his or her legal representative. ( Emphasis added.)

Based on this law, in instances where there is no expectation of privacy, the Department is required to disclose, in accordance with FOIA, recordings from law enforcement officer worn body cameras only if the recordings are (1) flagged for any of the reasons specified in section 10-20(b)(2) of the Body Camera Act, or (2) if they are requested by the subject of the encounter captured on the recording or the subject's attorneys. The Public Access Bureau has On January 8, 2025, an Assistant Attorney General (AAG) in the Public Access Bureau spoke by telephone with an Assistant State' s Attorney ( ASA) in the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office who explained that there is no indication that the Sheriff's Office was required to flag the footage at issue for any of the reasons set forth in section 10-20(b)(2) of the Body Camera Act. Additionally, the ASA informed the AAG that you were not present when the body camera footage was taken. On January 9, 2025, the AAG spoke to you by telephone. During that conversation, you confirmed that you were not present when the body cam video was taken but asserted that you should be able to obtain the footage based on a belief that the footage depicts a police officer watching a ring doorbell recording of you at the house, and because you were discussed by individuals who are depicted in the footage.

Based on your statement and the statements of the ASA, it is clear that you were not present when the body-camera footage was taken and that you did not interact with law enforcement at any time during the recording of the body- camera footage. Although the individuals interacting with the officer may have shown the officer a recording of you on a ring doorbell and may have discussed you, it does not make you a subject of the encounter because you had no interaction with law enforcement at any time during the recording. See, e.g., Ill. Att'y Gen. PAC Req. Rev. Ltr. 76600, issued July 10, 2023, at 3 (a person discussed in body camera footage was not the subject of the encounter). Because the footage is not a flagged video and because you are not the subject of the encounter, the Body Camera Act prohibits disclosure of such footage to you.5 Therefore, this office has determined that this Request for Review is unfounded.

This file is closed. If you have any questions, please contact me at 312- 814- 5201, Very truly yours, EDIE STEINBERG Senior Assistant Attorney General Public Access Bureau 84296 f unf co cc: Via electronic mail Mr. Conor McCarthy Assistant State's Attorney DuPage County State' s Attorney' s Office 503 North Country Farm Road Wheaton, Illinois 60187 [email protected]