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

The public records law that gets you the video

North Carolina Public Records Act, N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 132

“As promptly as possible”; actual cost

Public records include photographs, films, sound recordings and electronic records of any state or local government agency (G.S. 132-1(a)), and state policy is that people may get copies free or at minimal cost, meaning the actual cost of reproduction, unless a law says otherwise (G.S. 132-1(b)). Every custodian must let any person inspect public records at reasonable times and must furnish copies “as promptly as possible” on payment of any lawful fee (G.S. 132-6(a)); the Act sets no fixed number of days. You do not have to give a reason (G.S. 132-6(b)). We found no requirement in the Act that a request be in writing, except that an agency may require one for copies of computer databases (G.S. 132-6.2(c)); agencies often supply their own forms. An agency may not deny a request because confidential information is mixed in: it must separate it and bear that cost (G.S. 132-6(c)). You may choose any medium the agency can provide (G.S. 132-6.2(a)). An uncertified copy may cost no more than the agency’s actual cost of making it, but an agency may add a reasonable special service charge, based on its actual costs, when a request needs extensive technology resources or extensive clerical or supervisory time; if you think a fee is unfair, you may ask the State Chief Information Officer or a designee to mediate (G.S. 132-6.2(b)). An agency need not create or compile a record that does not exist (G.S. 132-6.2(e)) and may satisfy a request by posting records online (G.S. 132-6(a1)). For a database request that is denied, the agency must explain the basis and put it in writing if asked (G.S. 132-6.2(c)). Example, State Highway Patrol: it takes requests online or by mail to N.C. State Highway Patrol, Public Information Office, 4231 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C. 27699-4231, says it acknowledges a request within three business days, and then gives an estimated time and any charges. NCDOT takes requests through an online form on its public records page.

Police body camera and dashcam video

Not public; copy needs court order

G.S. 132-1.4A says law enforcement recordings are not public records (G.S. 132-1.4A(b)). A “recording” is any visual or audio recording by a body-worn camera, a dashboard camera or any other video or audio device operated by or on behalf of a law enforcement agency while carrying out law enforcement duties, but not recorded interviews of suspects or witnesses or internal investigation interviews (G.S. 132-1.4A(a)(6)). The statute separates disclosure, which means viewing or listening at a time and place the agency chooses (a)(4), from release, which means getting a copy (a)(7). Disclosure: make a written request to the head of the custodial law enforcement agency (the agency whose equipment made the recording) giving the date and approximate time of the activity or otherwise identifying it with reasonable particularity. The agency may disclose only to a person whose image or voice is in the recording, or to a personal representative (a parent, court-appointed guardian, spouse or North Carolina-licensed attorney; for a person who has died, also the estate’s personal representative or a surviving spouse, parent or adult child) of an adult who consents, of a minor or adult under guardianship, of a deceased person, or of an incapacitated adult; it shows only the portions relevant to your request, and you may not record or copy it (G.S. 132-1.4A(c), (a)(5)). As promptly as possible the agency must either show it or tell you it will not, and it may weigh whether the recording holds confidential information, highly sensitive personal information, could harm someone’s reputation or safety, would threaten the fair administration of justice, or needs to stay confidential to protect an active or inactive investigation (G.S. 132-1.4A(d)). Death or serious bodily injury: a recording that depicts a death or serious bodily injury may be disclosed only through a separate procedure (G.S. 132-1.4A(c)). The injured person, a personal representative on that person’s behalf, or a personal representative of the deceased submits a signed, notarized form (AOC-CV-275, Request to Law Enforcement Agency to Disclose Recording of Death or Serious Bodily Injury) to the head of the agency; within three business days the agency must file a petition in superior court, with no filing fee, and the court must review the recording privately and, within seven business days of the petition, order it shown now with or without redaction, shown later, or not shown; if it denies disclosure to protect an investigation, it must hold another hearing no more than 20 business days after its order to reconsider (G.S. 132-1.4A(b1) to (b3)). Viewing happens in private, and copying it is a Class 1 misdemeanor and spreading it a Class I felony (G.S. 132-1.4A(b1), (b4)). Apart from release to prosecutors and other law enforcement uses (G.S. 132-1.4A(h)), release (a copy) needs a court order (G.S. 132-1.4A(g)). A person entitled to disclosure can use the expedited petition in the superior court of any county where any part of the recording was made, on form AOC-CV-270 (Rev. 7/24), with no filing fee and notice to the head of the agency; the court decides whether you are entitled and then whether to release all or part, with any conditions; if it finds you are not entitled, there is no appeal, but you may file under subsection (g) (G.S. 132-1.4A(f)). Anyone may file in superior court under subsection (g), where the court weighs standards including whether release advances a compelling public interest and whether the requester “is seeking to obtain evidence to determine legal issues in a current or potential court proceeding,” after notice to the agency head, the officers in the recording and the District Attorney. The Supreme Court of North Carolina held in In re McClatchy Co., 386 N.C. 77 (May 23, 2024), that subsection (g) does not require a civil action rather than a petition and that a (g) request is not limited to people entitled to view the recording, and in State v. Chemuti (No. 282PA24, Oct. 17, 2025) that this procedure supplants a subpoena and is the exclusive means to obtain these recordings for use in a criminal case. An agency may charge no more than its actual cost to copy a released recording (G.S. 132-1.4A(l)). Recordings must be kept at least as long as the state records retention schedule requires (G.S. 132-1.4A(i)); we did not confirm the period. Each agency using body or dashboard cameras must have a policy for them (G.S. 132-1.4A(j)). Example, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police only: viewing requests go on CMPD’s Video Disclosure Request form by email to VideoDisclosure@cmpd.org, in person, or by mail to CMPD, Attn: Video Disclosure, 601 East Trade Street, Charlotte, NC 28202; for a copy, CMPD says you must start a civil action or file a Petition for Release (AOC-CV-270) with the Mecklenburg County Clerk of Court and serve a file-stamped copy on its Police Attorney’s Office.

When police can hold video back

Closed records; no set end date

Records of criminal investigations by public law enforcement agencies are not public records, and may be released only by order of a court (G.S. 132-1.4(a)). They include all information compiled to prevent or solve violations of the law, including information from witnesses, laboratory tests, surveillance, photographs and measurements (G.S. 132-1.4(b)(1)), and “violations of the law” include infractions as well as crimes (G.S. 132-1.4(b)(4)). Certain facts stay public even during an investigation: the time, date, location and nature of a reported violation; the name, age, address and charge of a person arrested or charged; the circumstances of an arrest; the contents of 911 and other emergency calls, except information that could identify the caller, victim or witness (which may be released as a transcript or altered voice) and calls from someone under 18; police radio broadcasts; and the name and address of a complaining witness, which may be withheld temporarily for safety or to protect an investigation (G.S. 132-1.4(c), (d)). An agency that believes releasing those facts would jeopardize a prosecution or a fair trial or undermine an investigation must go to court and prove it by a preponderance of the evidence (G.S. 132-1.4(e)). A record that is otherwise public, such as the officer’s crash report (G.S. 20-166.1(i)), does not lose that status because it is used in a criminal investigation (G.S. 132-1.4(f)). We found no provision making investigative records public when a case closes. For police video, protecting “an active or inactive” or even potential criminal investigation is a factor the agency and the court weigh at every stage (G.S. 132-1.4A(d)(6), (b3)(6), (g)(7)), so a closed case does not end it automatically. Agencies need not keep 911 recordings more than 30 days from the call unless a court orders a portion sealed (G.S. 132-1.4(i)), so request a 911 call at once.

Do traffic cameras in North Carolina record?

NCDOT says its cameras do not record

NCDOT’s public records request page states: “NCDOT traffic cameras do not record. For traffic camera footage NCDOT recommends reaching out to the local municipality.” If a city or town runs a camera at the crash location, send that city a public records request right away naming the camera location, date and time window; the Public Records Act does not require an agency to create a record that does not exist (G.S. 132-6.2(e)), and we found no statewide rule on how long a city keeps traffic camera video. If a camera is operated by or on behalf of a law enforcement agency, its video may fall within the definition of a law enforcement recording in G.S. 132-1.4A(a)(6), which would require the disclosure and court-order steps above.

Red-light and speed cameras

Red-light, school zone, bus cameras

Red-light cameras: G.S. 160A-300.1 lets a listed city or town adopt an ordinance for civil enforcement of G.S. 20-158 (traffic signals) with a traffic control photographic system; it applies only to the Cities of Albemarle, Charlotte, Durham, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Greenville, High Point, Locust, Lumberton, Newton, Rocky Mount and Wilmington, the Towns of Chapel Hill, Cornelius, Huntersville, Matthews, Nags Head, Pineville and Spring Lake, and the municipalities in Union County (G.S. 160A-300.1(d)). The registered owner is responsible unless the owner shows someone else had the vehicle; the civil penalty is $50 with no license or insurance points, rising to up to $100 if the owner does not pay or respond in time (G.S. 160A-300.1(c)). The General Assembly can also authorize other cities by local act; we did not compile those or confirm which programs are operating now. School zone speed cameras: since October 1, 2025 (S.L. 2025-47, s. 13), a city or county may adopt an ordinance for civil enforcement of school zone speed limits (G.S. 20-141.1) with electronic speed-measuring systems; signs must be posted within 1,000 feet, a camera on NCDOT right-of-way needs NCDOT approval, the citation to the owner must include the recorded image of the vehicle speeding, and the civil penalty is $250 with no points (G.S. 160A-300.4, 153A-246.1). We found no other North Carolina statute authorizing speed cameras. School bus stop-arm cameras: local boards of education in counties with an ordinance under G.S. 153A-246 may put automated school bus safety cameras on buses (G.S. 115C-242.1); the county citation includes an image of the vehicle, penalties are $400, $750 and $1,000 for first, second and later violations, the ordinance does not apply to a passing violation that causes injury or death, and the recordings that capture a violation go to the investigating law enforcement agency and, if consistent with the Rules of Evidence, are admissible in a G.S. 20-217 prosecution (G.S. 153A-246(b), 115C-242.1(d), 20-217(h)). Access: the school zone speed and school bus laws require the citation to include an image of the vehicle; the red-light statute does not say the citation must include one. None of these statutes says whether anyone else may get the images, and we found no North Carolina statute addressing that. Ask the city, county or school board that runs the camera promptly, in writing, and expect it to decide under the Public Records Act or, if it treats the camera as operated on behalf of law enforcement, under G.S. 132-1.4A.

If your request is denied

Court action; mediation required

Chapter 132 provides no administrative appeal, and we found no state open-records office that rules on denials. For records under the Public Records Act, a person denied inspection or copies may apply to the appropriate division of the General Court of Justice for an order compelling disclosure, and the case is set for immediate hearing with priority (G.S. 132-9(a)). The court has jurisdiction only if you have complied with the mediation statute, G.S. 7A-38.3E (G.S. 132-9(a)): the parties may agree to mediation before filing by filing a request with the clerk of superior court, and after a civil action is filed the person must start mediation no later than 30 days after responsive pleadings are filed; the parties may waive it in writing, and deadlines are paused from the request until 30 days after the mediation ends (G.S. 7A-38.3E(a), (b), (e), (g)). A requester who substantially prevails recovers reasonable attorneys’ fees unless the agency reasonably relied on a court order, an appellate opinion or an Attorney General opinion, and a court must award fees against a requester whose suit is frivolous or in bad faith (G.S. 132-9(c), (d)). A fee dispute can also go to the State Chief Information Officer for mediation (G.S. 132-6.2(b)). For police video, the routes are in G.S. 132-1.4A. If the agency refuses to let you view a recording, or has not shown it more than three business days after your request, you may apply to the superior court in any county where any part of it was made; the court may order viewing only if the agency abused its discretion, and that order cannot order a copy (G.S. 132-1.4A(e)). For a copy, petition under subsection (f) or file under subsection (g), described above. No attorneys’ fees may be awarded to any party in a G.S. 132-1.4A case (G.S. 132-1.4A(m)). You may want to ask a lawyer before filing in superior court.

What to do now

1. 1

   Send a written disclosure request today

   Write to the head of the police or sheriff’s agency that recorded the crash, giving the date, approximate time and location and saying you are in the recording. Use AOC-CV-275, notarized, if someone was killed or seriously injured.

2. 2

   Petition the superior court for a copy

   To keep a copy, file form AOC-CV-270 in the superior court of the county where the video was recorded and notify the agency head; a person entitled to view it pays no filing fee.

3. 3

   Request the 911 call within 30 days

   Its contents are a public record, with caller details withheld, but agencies need not keep 911 recordings more than 30 days, so ask the 911 center or police agency right away.

4. 4

   Ask the city about traffic cameras now

   NCDOT says its cameras do not record, and city camera video is often short-lived. Then post the crash on the bounty board: nearby dashcams and business cameras often hold the only footage.

Frequently asked questions