Feds, state double down on secrecy of data on in-custody deaths Breaking down CMPD s release of body cam video in death of Harold Easter By Nick Ochsner | April 22, 2021 at 10:55 AM EDT - Updated April 22 at 10:55 AM
As communities across the nation continue to grapple with high-profile police killings, North Carolina officials have again refused to release information on the deaths of people who died in custody, citing guidance from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The congressman who wrote the law requiring states to collect that information says both North Carolina and the U.S. DOJ are getting it wrong.
Jason deBruyn
Specifically,
Madan wrote, the law “would forbid the North Carolina Department of Public Safety” from revealing information from the collected forms.
U.S. DOJ cited that same statute
in its denial last week of a federal Freedom of Information Act request from the Watchdog Reporting Network for the same data.
And in an email this week, the Governor’s Crime Commission, the North Carolina agency responsible for collecting data under the federal law, again said it was prohibited from releasing its own version of the information – regardless of format.
“Information regarding deaths in custody of local law enforcement is not collected or maintained by GCC independently of the DCR-1A or BJA spreadsheets,” commission spokesperson Margaret Ekam said in an email. “Therefore, we do not have any public documents responsive to your request.”