DC Council defies Bowser over body camera and policing bills on ‘serious force’

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The District of Columbia Council passed a pair of bills on Tuesday, boosting efforts to make law enforcement body camera footage more accessible to the public. 

Council members unanimously passed an emergency version of Brooke Pinto’s Body-Worn Camera Transparency for Use of Force Amendment Act of 2026, defying Mayor Muriel Bowser’s request to leave changes to Congress. The legislation requires the district’s Metropolitan Police Department to release body-camera footage from local officers accompanying federal agents on patrols that involve the “serious use of force” or deaths.

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