Trust and transparency go hand in hand. 

Georgia lawmakers should realize policing reform must first and foremost be built around absolute transparency. 

Police body, dashboard and drone video footage should immediately be made available in all use-of-force cases.

It is simply the right thing to do.

When a teenage girl recorded the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer she provided a valuable public service that exposed a murder and led to the conviction of Derek Chauvin. 

But it also shined the light on the need for absolute transparency in all police interactions. 

All interactions should be recorded on video and all those audio and video recordings should be considered open public records quickly disclosed to the public. 

Routinely recording traffic stops, arrests, standoffs and even raids — without exception — and making those recordings readily available to the public and media will not only build trust and confidence but will also provide real protections both for the public and for law-enforcement agencies.

Any police misconduct will be recorded and on the record.

Any false accusations against police could be easily dismissed.

Throughout Georgia, many agencies already require body cameras but most struggle with knowing if and when to make recordings publicly available.

If lawmakers would simply clarify the open records policy around video, treating the recorded interactions in exactly the same way agencies are required to treat original incident reports, then local departments and sheriff’s offices would know exactly what is required of them, and the public would know what to expect in all cases. 

Withholding video, delaying the release of it, editing or doctoring it, is horrible pubic service and breeds nothing but suspicion and mistrust. 

The public has a vested interest in all criminal activity and the actions of police in its community.

Think about the fact that all initial police incident reports and criminal history records are open, public records, and disclosure is required. Restricting that information could compromise public safety and also erode public trust.

People with nothing to hide simply don’t hide.

Transparency will quickly exonerate those who act professionally as they serve and protect the public and quickly expose the bad, and lawless, actors.

Video is the absolute best initial incident report, and communities are far less skeptical of law-enforcement agencies when those departments and offices are forthcoming.

Growing confidence and relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve requires many things, including improved training, increased diversity, community policing initiatives, demilitarization, the employment of de-escalation tactics and enhanced transparency, among other things.

Secrecy breeds suspicion.

Transparency breeds trust. 

Jim Zachary is CNHI’s director of newsroom training and transparency, editor of The Valdosta Daily Times and president-emeritus of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.