By law, Texas cops must keep their bodycams operating at all times while working. However, a "dead suspect loophole" could be taken advantage of by the city of Uvalde, depending on its interpretation of the laws surrounding bodycam footage.
For "critical matters that are under investigation," Texas law provisions that police agencies only publicly release bodycam footage if they believe that doing so would somehow further a law enforcement agenda.
"Otherwise, Texas law grants law enforcement agencies broad discretion to set their own policies for handling the public disclosure of bodycam footage," VICE reports.
Further, the dead suspect loophole allows law enforcement to resist publicly releasing bodycam footage if the suspect was killed, and thus cannot be convicted of any crime.
According to J.T. Morris, a First Amendment lawyer based out of Austin, the alleged death of the 18-year-old gunman at the hands of Border Patrol agents could be used by Uvalde to avoid public disclosure of both audio and video captured at the scene of the crime.
"State law makes clear that if there's bodycam footage related either to an officer's use of deadly force or an investigation or administrative proceeding related to an officer, that bodycam footage cannot be deleted or destroyed until any proceedings are done," Morris is quoted as saying.
Enemies of Second Amendment opposing release of Uvalde bodycam footage
The police department in Uvalde is already in hot water over its officers' refusal to enter the school as the crime was occurring. We are now being told that Border Patrol was already there and had "breached" the classroom where the shooter was barricaded.
Last year, Border Patrol released a massive bodycam plan for its own agency, indicating plans to outfit 6,000 officers and agents with the devices by the end of 2021.
In the context of the gun control debate, many are wanting to see the footage. However, enemies of the Second Amendment say that it is not necessary to be "confronted with that kind of shocking imagery in order to drive change," to quote VICE's Tess Owen.
The way Texas law was crafted allows law enforcement agencies broad discretion to set their own policies for how to handle the public disclosure of bodycam footage. Chances are that if it incriminates Uvalde police officers in any way, the footage will remain undisclosed.
"The shooting was staged," wrote someone at Natural News, speculating as to why the bodycam footage will probably never be released.
"This was likely another psy-op by a traitorous government," added another. "They can't go full authoritarian until they have taken our guns."
Someone else added that the Uvalde shooting reeks of another "Sandy Hook false flag," explaining that on March 21 of this year, the Uvalde CISD Police Department held an "Active Shooter Course" at Robb Elementary School.
"The whole 'shooting' was staged two months ago," this person further wrote. "It was a drill later sold as the real thing."
Many others wrote that they believe Uvalde police were told to stand down by some other agency, which is probably another reason why incriminating bodycam footage will never be publicly released.
Concerning the Second Amendment and the left's continued attempts at changing or abolishing it, other commenters wrote that it is a non-negotiable.
"The Second Amendment isn't about hunting," one of them wrote. "It's to prevent evil people in government from doing exactly what they're trying to do now."
More related news about law enforcement controversies can be found at PoliceState.news.
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