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WNIJ's summary of news items around our state.

Illinois Lawmakers Consider Easing Access To Police Videos

Flickr: West Midlands Police
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Photo cropped from original

Illinois lawmakers are expected to consider a plan to ease public access to police dashboard and body cameras under state open record laws.

The House Judiciary Criminal Committee will hear the plan by Chicago Democratic Rep. Art Turner on Wednesday.

The plan was spurred by the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in Chicago in October 2014. The shooting was captured by a Chicago police cruiser's dashboard camera but the video was made public only after a judge's order more than year later.

Turner says releasing police videos would restore public trust. But police officials argue that releasing a video could compromise ongoing investigations.

At least 20 states and the District of Columbia have laws addressing body cameras.

Only 10 put the videos under open records laws.

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