HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — UPDATE: At the Huntsville City Council meeting on June 10, council members voted to postpone voting on a resolution to make police video public until July 22.
The council said the decision to postpone the resolution in order to make changes to the current proposal. Councilmember John Merideth said that discussions had taken place which revealed that much of the current proposal will be changed. He said releasing the current language of the proposal would only serve as a distraction.
Additionally, City Administrator John Hamilton said the City intends to update the Huntsville Police Department's written directives to help inform citizens of ways in which relevant parties can request to view police video.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Huntsville city council members are working on a proposal to make police bodycam video available to the public.
Councilman John Meredith, District 5, says he and Councilmembers Devyn Keith and Bill Kling have sponsored the proposal and says it's currently a "work in progress".
However, Meredith says there is some "pushback".
This comes on the heels of public outcry about excessive use of force from the Huntsville Police Department.
Last week, a viral video of a man arrested at a Mapco gas station at 905 Memorial Parkway on Sunday, May 30, has sparked outrage. His mother spoke to news media following the arrest.
"I was like, this is my child. You beating my child, literally kicking his leg," says "I immediately got up and went to the police station, you know - and told them what was going on," says Kimberlyn Hayes.
This is what Hayes says she did when someone showed her a video of her son, Kemontae Hobbs, 22, seen there arrested at the Mapco gas station on Sunday evening.
In the video, he's restrained by one officer. Shortly after, two officers arrive, one of them immediately stomping then kicking Kemontae's leg while telling him "stop resisting".
"We feel that this is overdue, and this is the best method to move forward in jumpstarting the discussion when it comes to taking police," says Huntsville City Councilmember, Dist. 5, John Meredith.
Meredith says he hopes to see some progress on this discussion, during tomorrow's city council meeting. The meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. at the City Hall.
