Graphic photos from Kobe Bryant crash site prompt tougher privacy law
- Sheriff’s deputies shared unauthorised photos from the January 26 crash scene, including to people in a bar
- California privacy law makes it a crime for first responders to share unauthorised photos
Amid outrage over Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies sharing graphic photos from the helicopter crash that killed Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, the California Senate approved a bill that would make it a crime for first responders to take pictures of dead people for reasons other than official investigations.
The bill, which had previously been approved by the Assembly, must still be signed by Governor Gavin Newsom.
Assemblyman Mike Gipson, a Democrat, introduced the bill in response to reports that deputies shared photographs of the scene of the January 26 crash that killed Bryant, his daughter and seven others in Calabasas.
Gipson said he was “mortified” to hear that first responders shared unauthorised photos from the crash scene.
“The actions of the first responders involved were unacceptable, and they highlighted a problem that demands a strong remedy,” Gipson said. “I took this on as a great responsibility to ensure that those who are trusted to secure scenes of great disaster and death are not abusing their power for personal pleasure.”
The measure, which was proposed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, would make it a misdemeanour for a law enforcement official to photograph a deceased person at a crime or accident scene unless required for an official investigation, punishable by up to a year in jail and up to US$1,000 in fines.