Metro police changes cost to obtain body-worn camera footage
Las Vegas police are no longer charging the public a flat rate of $320 per hour of video to release copies of body-camera footage.
The Metropolitan Police Department announced Friday that it will now charge $80 for each hour of work it takes officers to research, redact and prepare footage requested by the public. The move comes after open-government advocates criticized the department’s fees as creating a major barrier to accessing public records.
The previous $320 rate was based on the assumption that preparing one hour of video would always take four hours of work. Now, Metro will provide requesters with an individualized cost estimated based on the requested video, according to a department press release.
The department will also continue its practice of sometimes waiving fees for videos of events that draw widespread interest.
Even with the change, Metro charges more for body-worn camera video than other police departments in the Las Vegas Valley.
North Las Vegas police stopped billing for their footage in 2021. Henderson doesn’t charge for the first 10 hours of work its employees spend preparing video for release, and the city charges no more than $35 for each additional hour of work.
Contact Mark Credico at mcredico@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Instagram @writermark2.
