Damn, anyone knows why?

HOWEVER- the quote about racism is from a handful of specific incidents that occurred in 2017 and is not applicable to all BART refusals to release crime videos to the public.

1. The specific incidents tapes were being requested for involved minors, and BART saw problems with releasing minors images to the public.

2. BART does not report or turn over tapes to the public on every petty crime because, in their own words, they do not want to create a perception of BART as unsafe. Instead BART reports security states for public protection- BART reports major crimes and violent crimes individually, but petty crimes are reported as statistical data and when there are periods of elevated criminal activity BART issues warning such as to be aware and cautious about theft due to recent heightened activity.

3. BART leadership DID say on record that PART of their decision making process involved race as well- that they did not want to release information identifying the races of petty criminals as that information is not relevant to the public except in identifying a specific criminal if that criminal is at large. Where criminals have been caught, their race is not relevant to public safety. BART leadership is aware that racial tensions and biases can be created or worsened due to illogical conclusions drawn on sensationalization of race. Which ties into...

4. BART is on record saying they do not want to be a part to media scare ratings. It is a quote from BART, to the media, that it is the feeling of the BART leadership that media requests for these tapes has nothing to do with the interest of public safety or information, but is entirely the media wanting to show the tapes in order to get ratings and sensationalize stories of petty crime.

BART is aware that especially when “news is slow” that news media will attempt to create controversies or panics to increase ratings and keep the public attention. If the media is requesting the tapes of a petty theft incident- the media is already aware of the theft. If they reach out to BART and BART confirms the events and details the media has- what use are the tapes?

BART has and does release tapes of “at large” criminals who are serial offenders or have committed serious offenses such as assault or kidnapping. In these cases releases of the tapes makes sense to help find the suspect and to protect the public so that they can potentially identify and avoid the criminal if they encounter that person. But when a suspect is in police custody- there is no reason for the tapes release. The police will have photos, or photos can be taken by the media while the prison is in transit or court.

While I understand what BART is saying about racial prejudice- I also think that alone would be a stupid reason to deny public access to crime footage. However, when taken in context with other factors- it makes more sense and is a minor (and possible just “PR based”) reason. Personally I support their logic and action against media sensationalism. They aren’t stopping the media from reporting or gathering any pertinent information for good journalism- they are just refusing to be a part of it if the media wants to create a circus out of a minor and common crime.

To put it another way- it is common for police to refuse to release footage of a person being murdered or killed. In most cases the actual footage of their death serves no public interest and is often insensitive to those involved and their families. The primary use of such footage is as “gore porn” or to shock people in ways that describing the events in words may not do quite the same. There is of course a philosophical debate as to wether a public agency has the right to decide these things or if it is up to the public to decide if we want to see or not for whatever the reasons. But- it is what it is.