CHULA VISTA, Calif. — The Chula Vista Police Department has fought to keep drone video private. An appeals court disagreed and the Supreme Court of California says it's not getting involved. The case is heading back to a trial court to decide on guidelines for releasing video.
CVPD has paved the way for police departments across the country to use drones in response to emergency calls. This case started in 2021 when a local newspaper requested drone video and was denied.
"The police's position was every single video captured by a drone is exempt from the public regardless if it captured a crime or not. It's an indefensible position," said Art Castanares, the publisher of La Prensa San Diego.
He requested all drone footage from the department for March 2021. Chula Vista Police denied the request which Castanares says was a violation of the state's public information law. He brought it to court. It was then that a trial court voted in favor of the department.
Castanares appealed that decision.
"The appellate court and now the California Supreme Court have disagreed with the police that they can't categorically exempt all videos. They have to release videos not tied to ongoing investigations," he said.
Last Thursday California Supreme Court declined to hear Chula Vista's petition to reverse the appellate court's ruling. Now the case will go back to a trial court. Castanares says the department will be asked to put drone videos in one of three categories. That includes videos that can't be released because they're tied to an investigation, releasable videos and a middle category for footage that might be used in a future investigation.
CBS 8 reached out to Chula Vista Police for comment. The department did not comment on the April 10 Supreme Court action. The spokesperson said the case will now return to trial court and they cannot comment on pending litigation.
Aaron Mackey with the Electronic Frontier Foundation said people want to know more about how police use the drones.
"I think the public is really interested in this footage and learning about how and why and when police deploy these drones," said Aaron Mackey, with the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation advocates for first amendment rights. Mackey says the case will set a precedent for other departments in California.
"In addition to this being like the first program drones are deployed to 911 calls. I think it raises a number of really sort of tricky questions over the public's privacy and privacy of those who call 911 and request service," he said.
The case is now going back to a trial court which will ultimately decide which videos are exempt.
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