How to get police and traffic camera video of a crash in Louisiana

The public records law that gets you the video

Louisiana Public Records Law, La. R.S. 44:1 et seq.

Sue if no answer in 5 business days

Public records include photographs, tapes, recordings and electronically stored information used or retained by a public body in its work, regardless of physical form (La. R.S. 44:1(A)(2)(a)), so police and agency video is covered. Providing access is a duty of the custodian; any person of the age of majority may inspect, copy or reproduce a public record, any person may obtain a copy, and the custodian bears the burden of proving a record is not open (La. R.S. 44:31). The custodian may ask only your age and identification, may ask you to sign a register, and may ask what records you want if the request is unclear; if a request would substantially disrupt required government operations, access may be denied only after reasonable attempts to narrow it with you (La. R.S. 44:32(A)). Deadlines: a record that is immediately available must be presented immediately; if it is in active use, the custodian must promptly certify that in writing and fix a day and hour within three days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal public holidays (La. R.S. 44:33(B)(1)). If the custodian questions whether the record is public, he must notify you in writing of his determination and the legal basis within five days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal public holidays, of receiving your written request (44:32(D)). If five such days pass after your in-person, written or electronic request without a written determination or an estimate of the time reasonably needed to collect, segregate, redact, examine or review the records, you may sue (La. R.S. 44:35(A)). Fees: a local custodian (city, parish, sheriff) may set and collect reasonable copy fees, including for electronic copies, must post the fee schedule where the public can readily see it, and may ask for payment in advance (44:32(C)(1)(a)); a state agency such as the State Police or DOTD charges under the uniform fee schedule adopted by the commissioner of administration (La. R.S. 39:241) or as otherwise fixed by law (44:32(C)(2)(a)). Copies may be free or reduced for indigent citizens of Louisiana. No fee may be charged to examine or review a record, or to review it to decide whether it is subject to disclosure, except as a court may determine (44:32(C)(3)). Crash video specifically: the crash report statute says “The state police, any local police department, or any sheriff’s office shall provide copies of photographs of crashes or other photographs required of the investigating agency, video recordings, audio recordings, and any extraordinary-sized documents, or documents stored on electronic media, to any interested person upon request and may charge a reasonable fee for such copies” (La. R.S. 32:398(E)); we found no official guidance on how that crash statute interacts with the R.S. 44:3 law enforcement exemptions below. Example, State Police only: its Public Records Center (GovQA) takes requests online and says a cost is associated with requests fulfilled in paper form, photos and videos, with or without redactions; it lists no video price. Example, DOTD only: it takes requests online or on its form by email, fax or mail; its page says “Any person of the age of majority (18 and over) may request a public record,” while R.S. 44:31(B)(2) says any person may obtain a copy or reproduction of a public record; it says it will acknowledge a request within five business days, and says most records are produced within five business days, with an estimate sent if more time is needed.

Police body camera and dashcam video

Body cam withheld for privacy: court

Body cameras: Louisiana’s rule is in the Public Records Law itself. Nothing in the chapter requires a law enforcement agency to disclose video or audio recordings generated by officer body-worn cameras that the custodian finds violate an individual’s reasonable expectation of privacy (La. R.S. 44:3(A)(8)). Recordings the custodian finds would violate that expectation must be disclosed on a determination and order from a court of competent jurisdiction under R.S. 44:35, and the court sets all production costs of a court-ordered disclosure (44:3(A)(8)(b), (c)). Recordings made while the officer is not acting in the scope of official duties are not subject to disclosure when disclosure would violate a reasonable expectation of privacy (44:3(A)(8)(d)). A body camera is a camera worn on an individual officer’s person that records and stores audio and video (44:3(A)(8)(a)). Every body camera request must be incident specific and give reasonable specificity as to the date, time, location or persons involved, for each incident; the custodian may deny a request without it (44:3(I)). Body camera video is also subject to the pending-litigation exemption described in the next section. Dashcams: we found no Louisiana statute specifically governing release of police dashboard camera video, so the general Public Records Law and its R.S. 44:3 exemptions apply, along with the crash video rule in R.S. 32:398(E). Use rules: any agency that uses body cameras had to adopt a policy on activating and deactivating them by January 1, 2022 (La. R.S. 40:2551), and any police vehicle with a dash camera that can automatically record when the emergency lights are activated must use that technology (La. R.S. 40:2552). Retention: we found no Louisiana statute setting a minimum retention period for body camera or dash camera video, so ask the agency to preserve it in your first request. Example, State Police only: its Public Records Center says the process for body worn camera footage may be expedited by creating a free account at my.evidence.com and putting the username or email address in the description of your request.

When police can hold video back

May be held until the case is resolved

The Public Records Law says “Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed to require disclosures of records, or the information contained therein, held by” the attorney general, district attorneys, sheriffs, police departments, the Department of Public Safety and Corrections (which includes the State Police) and the other listed agencies, which are “Records pertaining to pending criminal litigation or any criminal litigation which can be reasonably anticipated, until such litigation has been finally adjudicated or otherwise settled” (La. R.S. 44:3(A)(1)). That exemption sits beside the crash statute’s “shall provide” rule for crash video quoted above (32:398(E)); neither text refers to the other, and we found no official guidance on which controls. The State Police’s public records FAQ says a criminal investigative report is not considered a public record until the case has been adjudicated, citing that paragraph. Example, New Orleans Police Department only: its Police Report Requests page lists “Records of Law enforcement agencies pertaining to pending criminal investigations and prosecution” among the information it will not disclose. What stays public: the initial report of the officer investigating a complaint (but not follow-up reports), booking records, records of a summons or citation, and the filing of a bill of information; the initial report must give a narrative of the alleged offense, the name of each suspect charged or arrested, the time, date and location, the property and vehicles involved, and the names of the investigating officers (44:3(A)(4)). Crime victims: if you are the victim of an offense, including vehicular negligent injuring, first degree vehicular negligent injuring, a homicide or any other felony against a natural person (the definition of “victim” in La. R.S. 46:1842), you or your designated family member may review and copy records related to the offense unless the agency certifies in writing that the matter is subject to actual or reasonably anticipated criminal litigation; after prosecution begins, any document the agency gives the defendant must also be made available to you on request unless the agency certifies in writing that information in it could materially affect the prosecution or a related investigation; and the agency may in its discretion let you see records if doing so would not reasonably impair an investigation or prosecution (La. R.S. 44:3(K)). So if your crash leads to criminal charges (for example impaired driving or hit and run), expect body camera and other investigative video to be withheld while the case is pending or reasonably anticipated, and ask again once it is finally adjudicated or settled; a separate 2026 law (Act 242, effective August 1, 2026, R.S. 44:4(65)) takes outside the Public Records Law copies of images, video and recordings held by a clerk of court after they are introduced into evidence in a criminal prosecution and that the clerk determines depict, among other things, a dead body or gruesome injury, unless they are voluntarily released, otherwise public or released by court order.

Do traffic cameras in Louisiana record?

DOTD: live feeds, never recorded

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development says on its Intelligent Transportation Systems page: “DOTD DOES NOT RECORD CAMERA FEEDS. THE CAMERA FEEDS ARE LIVE FEEDS AND NEVER RECORDED BY DOTD.” The feeds appear on 511la.org and the 511 mobile app, and DOTD’s six Traffic Management Centers (in Baton Rouge, including the statewide center, and in Houma, Lake Charles, New Orleans and Shreveport) use them to detect and verify incidents. 511LA covers interstates, U.S. routes and state highways, not parish roads or city streets. So do not expect a DOTD highway camera clip of your crash. City and parish traffic or public safety cameras are separate systems run by those governments; ask that city or parish in a public records request right away, and ask nearby businesses and drivers, through the bounty board, for their footage.

Red-light and speed cameras

Mostly local; speed cams in school zones

We found no statewide camera enforcement program; the statutes mainly regulate cameras run by local municipal and parish authorities (La. R.S. 32:43 to 32:49). Section 32:43 says its provisions do not apply to highway construction zones where DOTD or its contractor is working and workers are present, but that this exemption does not apply to local authorities (32:43(A)(2)). Speed cameras: since 2025, automated speed enforcement devices and mobile speed cameras may not be used anywhere other than school zones lawfully posted under R.S. 32:47, except that the section does not apply to a municipality that meets a population test written into the statute (La. R.S. 32:43(A)(3), (4), as amended by 2025 Act 107); local authorities may not use automated speed enforcement on interstates (32:43(A)(1)). Devices that issue citations by mail in school zones may run only on school days, from one hour before to one hour after the start and the end of the school day (32:46(B)), and a speed device that issues citations by mail may be used only when operated by a trained, sworn or P.O.S.T.-certified member of law or traffic enforcement (contractors may not operate handheld or manned devices), in a lawfully posted school zone, with the required signs and pavement markings (32:47(A)); 2026 Act 492, effective August 1, 2026, rewrote the school zone pavement marking rule in 32:47(A)(4) and repealed 32:47(A)(5) (the legislature’s online text of § 32:47 has not yet been updated). No criminal fines or fees may come from mailed speed camera citations, nor credit bureau reporting (32:47(B)). Red-light cameras: local authorities must post signs within five hundred feet of each red light camera (La. R.S. 32:44(A)). Louisiana law defines a red light camera separately from an automated speed enforcement device, but defines the latter as an unmanned or handheld camera installed to work in conjunction with a traffic control signal or radar speed detection equipment, or both (La. R.S. 32:1(3), (70); the same definition is in 32:43(B)); we found no official guidance on whether the school-zone-only rule reaches red-light cameras. Hearings: each local authority that issues camera citations by mail must offer an administrative hearing before an independent hearing officer, with at least fifteen days to respond, listed defenses, judicial review within thirty days, and no cost to the owner; a citation is not a criminal conviction (32:48). From August 1, 2026, no one may boot a vehicle for failure to pay a red-light camera citation unless the owner has first been afforded an administrative hearing on the citation, except in Orleans Parish (La. R.S. 32:1741(K)(2), added by 2026 Act 808). Access to images: we found no Louisiana statute on who may get camera images or how long they are kept, so ask the city or parish that runs the program, in writing and quickly. Example, City of New Orleans only: it lists safety camera locations across town with speed, red light and school zone enforcement.

If your request is denied

Sue in district court (R.S. 44:35)

We found no administrative appeal in the Public Records Law; its enforcement route is a lawsuit. If the custodian denies your request, or five days pass, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal public holidays, after your in-person, written or electronic request without a written determination or an estimate of the time needed, you may file suit for a writ of mandamus or injunctive or declaratory relief in the district court for the parish where the custodian’s office is located (La. R.S. 44:35(A)). The court decides the matter de novo, the burden is on the custodian, the judge may review the records privately, and the suit is tried by preference in a summary manner (44:35(B), (C)). If you prevail you must be awarded reasonable attorney fees and litigation costs, and if you prevail in part the court may award them; if the custodian arbitrarily or capriciously withheld the record or unreasonably or arbitrarily failed to respond as R.S. 44:32 requires, the court may award actual damages and, for a failure to respond, civil penalties of up to $100 a day, excluding weekends and legal holidays; the public body, not the employee, pays (44:35(D), (E)). A custodian who arbitrarily or capriciously violates the chapter may also be fined $100 to $1,000 or jailed one to six months on a first conviction (La. R.S. 44:37). For body camera video withheld on privacy grounds, the same R.S. 44:35 court process is how you get a disclosure order (44:3(A)(8)(b)). The Attorney General’s office says it provides legal opinions to private individuals or entities only on questions related to dual office holding, and that it does not give legal advice to private citizens; we found no Attorney General process for a member of the public to appeal a records denial. Before suing, put the request in writing and keep the custodian’s written response: the five-day suit clock runs from an in-person, written or electronic request (44:35(A)), but the custodian’s duty to give a written determination with its legal basis runs from a written request (44:32(D)). You may want to ask a lawyer before filing.

What to do now

1. 1

   Send a written request today

   Ask the agency that worked the crash for all body camera, dashcam and other video and photos of it, citing R.S. 44:31 and 32:398(E). Give the date, time, location and people involved.

2. 2

   Ask them to preserve the video

   We found no state minimum retention period for police video, so ask in the same request that every recording be kept. Request city camera footage the same day.

3. 3

   Skip DOTD, find other cameras

   DOTD says its highway cameras are live only and never recorded. Post the crash on the bounty board for dashcam and business camera footage.

4. 4

   Hold the five-day clock

   If five business days pass with no written determination or time estimate, or the request is denied, you may sue in district court under R.S. 44:35.

Frequently asked questions