La. House passed bill that would restrict public access to audiot...
La. House passed bill that would restrict public access to audiotapes of 911 calls. Under legislation (HB-825), tapes of 911 calls would be confidential information that could be made public only if subpoenaed. Bill has been sent to Senate.…
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State Rep. Lydia Jackson (D-Shreveport), bill’s sponsor, said it was needed to eliminate widely varying privacy standards that now existed among state’s 64 emergency 911 districts and to deter lurid exploitation of 911 calls. Without subpoena, 911 tapes could be used only by law enforcement agencies and for training of 911 personnel. Tapes also would be available to caller or to parents or guardians of child that called 911. Nothing in legislation would prohibit callers or their families from making tape of their call available to media. Opponents argued that closing 911 records would impair public’s ability to monitor emergency services’ responses to calls, but supporters said other public records could provide such data.