The debate over police body cameras and dashboard cameras has resurfaced in New Hampshire after a Democratic lawmaker's 107 mph traffic stop. State Rep. Ellen Read is fighting charges related to two Rockingham County traffic stops, including one in which a deputy accused her of driving 107 mph.
The lack of body camera and dashboard camera footage has become a focal point in the case. The Rockingham County Sheriff's Office does not use body-worn cameras or dashboard cameras due to a lack of funding. However, the agency is interested in equipping deputies with the technology.
New Hampshire lawmakers established a Body-Worn and Dashboard Camera Fund in 2021 to provide matching grants to local law enforcement agencies for purchasing cameras and covering maintenance, replacement, and data storage costs. State law does not require agencies to purchase or use body cameras, but it does require agencies that choose to deploy them to adopt policies governing when officers must record law enforcement encounters.
Read has consistently supported legislation governing body-worn cameras and funding to help law enforcement agencies purchase them. She would be willing to work with the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office to secure funding for body cameras in the next state budget.
Read disputed the sheriff's office's assertion that she recorded part of the traffic stop on her cellphone. She said the officers' failure to wear or use body cams is the reason she invested in a dash cam. Read argued that the constitutional provision protecting lawmakers from being delayed while traveling to legislative duties does not provide blanket immunity from traffic stops or criminal prosecution.
A professor at New England Law said the constitutional provision was intended to prevent lawmakers from being delayed while performing their legislative duties, not to provide absolute immunity from arrest. The New Hampshire Supreme Court's refusal to immediately hear Read's constitutional challenge does not necessarily mean her appeal is denied.
The Rockingham County Sheriff's Office has expressed concerns that the constitutional provision was not intended to shield lawmakers from accountability for dangerous driving. Read acknowledged that the constitutional language could be modernized while preserving its original intent.
