On July 1st, Las Vegas Metro Police Department will begin charging $280 for an hour of body-cam footage. This charge is unrelated to the amount of effort that is expended in order to redact the footage by the LVMPD. At minimum, the public will be charged for 30 minutes of work, resulting in a $140 fee. This fee adds another handicap to the public's ability to protect, and defend, itself from unlawful arrests.

In July 2019, LVMPD increased their fees from $42 for an hour of footage to $192/hr. This is a 362% increase in fees. In contrast, California has deemed it unlawful for their police department to charge fees to the public in exchange for body-cam footage. Henderson currently has no fees associated with redacting body-cam footage and North Las Vegas only charges a fee if the officer works overtime. At $280/hr, these officers will be making a greater hourly wage than top physicians and attorneys. This fee increase is to cover the detectives retirement and health insurance. LVMPD is slated to have a final budget of $655 million for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. This budget should be utilized to cover any expenses associated with providing lawful services to the public, including redacting body-cam footage.. 

In the midst of the current economic and social hardships, this is an insensitive and damning event. It is a continuation of unchecked behavior from our Police Department. This is another weapon being utilized by the LVMPD in its battle against OUR community!

The time to speak up is now! Let us show that we will no longer accept inconsiderate and antagonistic behavior from the LVMPD. Please, sign this petition so that we may show our local government we will not allow for these inequities to continue!