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Families and residents urge Memphis City Council to demand release of police body-camera footage
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Summary
Several public commenters told the council they were denied full police body-camera footage after officer-involved incidents and urged policy changes; one family announced a federal complaint and requested council action on transparency and evidence-handling policies.
Multiple residents used the council’s public-comment period on March 24 to press the Memphis City Council to demand release of full police body-camera footage and to change policies on evidence handling.
Alexa Pouncey asked the council to "demand the release of the body cam footage of officer Torres Molina during the shooting during the traffic stop of Donnell Maxwell," saying the mayor had declined to release the video and urging council intervention.
Amber Sherman also urged the council to use its influence to seek transparency, noting the public’s distrust after Tyree Nichols’ death and saying she and others had received limited or no responses from council offices.
LaMichael Wilson (speaking for the family of LaJuanese Wilson) described repeated requests to Memphis Police Department for body-camera footage and said the family was allowed to view only about 10 seconds of edited footage from an incident his family says involved multiple officers and hours on scene. "For over 5 months, I have asked the Memphis Police Department for transparency, for truth," Wilson said. He said the family's complaint to internal affairs was marked 'not sustained' while the family possesses photographs his mother’s phone; he added that he has filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee seeking the full footage and policy change.
Wilson asked the council to consider policy changes to prohibit first responders from using private phones to photograph deceased persons and to treat body-camera footage as belonging to the public. "Why can't I see the entire body cam footage?" he asked, and said that, failing voluntary release, he was pursuing court remedies.
Council members thanked commenters and said staff would follow up, but no formal action or vote on body-camera policy was recorded in the meeting minutes.
The council did not schedule a vote on transparency policy during this session; commenters said they will press the issue further.
