The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend various codes as they relate to recordings of peace officers engaged in the performance of their official duties and during interactions with the public. Under the provisions of the bill, a peace officer or other employee of a law enforcement agency who alters, destroys, or conceals another person's audio, visual, or photographic recording of a peace officer's performance of official duties without obtaining that other person's written consent would commit an offense punishable as a felony of the third degree.
A third degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 10 years and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
Creating a criminal offense is expected to result in additional demands on the correctional resources of the counties or of the State due to an increase in individuals placed under supervision in the community or sentenced to terms of confinement in state correctional institutions. The bill may have a negative population impact by increasing the number of people on felony community supervision or incarcerated within state correctional institutions. Whether the bill would result in a significant population impact is indeterminate due to the lack of information on peace officers or law enforcement agencies employees who engage in this form of evidence tampering. This information is necessary to identify the cases affected by the provisions of the bill from all other evidence tampering cases.