ACLU files lawsuit against Dewey police
The ACLU of Delaware filed a lawsuit March 13 against Dewey Beach in the Superior Court of New Castle County alleging the town unlawfully denied access to body worn camera footage from six officers. In its denial, Dewey Beach stated the Freedom of Information Act request was denied under exemptions for investigatory files, criminal record, and common or statutory law.
“One of the key reasons Delaware mandated that law enforcement officers wear body worn cameras is to provide greater transparency and accountability to the public,” said ACLU-DE Civic Engagement Counsel Andrew Bernstein. “Unnecessarily blocking access to that footage undermines the public’s trust.”
The ACLU-DE requested the body worn camera footage after it received a report that a group of young people had faced potential discrimination due to their race during the summer of 2025. None of the young people were charged with a crime, and there appeared to be no active investigation into their conduct.
According to the ACLU-DE, Dewey Beach invoked the investigatory file exemption but provided no indication the body worn camera footage was gathered following any allegation or report of a criminal or civil law enforcement investigation. Dewey Beach also cited the criminal records exemption, but, the ACLU-DE says, this exemption applies only where the requested records would invade privacy. Dewey Beach provided no justification for how releasing the footage would do so, the ACLU-DE said.
“The body worn camera footage shows law enforcement officers working in their public capacity in a public space, so it is difficult to imagine how its release could violate their personal privacy,” Bernstein said. “We do not live in a society with secret police, so merely being able to identify who the law enforcement officers are cannot be a reason to deny access to this footage.”
The ACLU-DE also said Dewey Beach utilized the common or statutory law exemption, citing to statutes shielding criminal record history and criminal justice information from release. Officials provided no justification for how the footage would have fallen under these exemptions, the ACLU-DE said.
