Terry Mutchler Talks about the Growing Pressure for Philadelphia to Release Bodycam Footage After Shooting

Terry Mutchler, Chair of Obermayer’s Transparency & Public Data Practice, was quoted on Axios on August 2, 2023, in connection with Public demands for officials to release body camera footage in shootings that are growing after the death of Eddie Irizarry.  The city has only released body-camera footage once — in the police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. — since it spent $20 million to implement a body-camera program in 2014.

Terry Mutchler has successfully pried loose footage in three cases, including one in Lancaster in which she worked with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. All the cases were settled out of court before a judge ruled whether footage should be available to the public under Act 22.

“You have transparency on paper but not in practice,” Terry says, adding there isn’t a willingness from state lawmakers to change the law.

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