Calls for the release of body camera footage continued on Tuesday into the tasing death of a 36-year-old Black man by a police officer following an altercation on July 2 in Theodore.

The requests for the footage came before the Mobile City Council, with one of the requestors being the sister of Jawan Dallas whose death continues to be under investigation. They also came about one month after the attorneys for the Dallas family, which includes prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, also called on the public release of the body cam footage.

“I also want transparency,” said Carolina Dallas of Chickasaw. “It’s the right thing to do.”

Also requesting the release of the footage was James Jackson Jr., a civil rights advocate. He said there remains too many questions about Dallas’ death, and that police-worn body camera footage would help quell community concerns.

“You have witnesses who say he was beaten,” said Jackson. “The MPD says differently. The family deserves clarity.”

Ongoing investigation

Mobile City Attorney Ricardo Woods said the family will get to see the video footage when the investigation is completed.

The shooting is under investigation by three agencies – internally by Mobile police, The Mobile County District Attorney’s Office, and the FBI.

“As soon as the criminal investigation is over, I’ve informed the (attorney of the Dallas family) that we’ll sit down with him and allow him to review the video and allow the family members review the video as well,” said Woods, who said the attorney for Woods has been informed of the situation. He said he has not had direct contact with the family.

“We don’t do this until the criminal investigation is over,” Woods said. “It is now part of the grand jury process and that is protected by law.”

It’s unclear how long the investigation will last, and there was no indication that the video will be released publicly. Police have since released a transcript of the 911 call that occurred during the incident.

The killing happened after a man called 911 to say someone was trying to break into his trailer. That call prompted a rapid response by police, who have said they encountered Dallas and another man roughly 100 yards away from the property. The attorneys for the family argue that the caller informed police dispatch that someone was “only in his yard” and that a burglary was not happening.

The 911 caller also claimed the person who trespassed onto the property was homeless.

Dallas was approached by police while “sitting in a fully functional vehicle and did not present to be indigent or homeless,” according to a claim report.

Mobile police then demanded that Dallas produce a state-issued ID. Police have said that Dallas refused, with the family asserting that “he had not committed any crime.”

Dallas was then struck and tased multiple times, the claim from the family filed in July says. An attorney for the family says that Dallas fell to the ground after the first tasing, grabbed his chest and complained of chest pain. The officer then tased him again, the attorney says, “until he stopped moving.”

Mobile Police Chief Paul Prine, last month, said Dallas evaded police after they showed up to investigate a burglary call. The chief said the responding officers feared for their own safety because of Dallas’s behavior and “strange movement in the car,” such as “moving to the backseat with his hands.”

Dallas, a convicted felon, was later found to have drugs — crystal methamphetamine and analog marijuana known as spice.

‘Do the right thing?’

Robert Clopton, president of the Mobile chapter of the NAACP, has long called for the release of police-worn body camera footage following fatal encounters involving a police officer, including after the death of Dallas.

“I don’t know how it hampers an investigation,” Clopton said of the footage. “If it’s the facts.”

Clopton blamed Mobile for the lack of transparency, saying it’s up to the city to decide if they wanted to release it.

He said he was glad people showed up to the council meeting to raise concerns. No one on the council provided reaction.

“If no one ever speaks up,” Clopton said. “Nothing will ever happen.”

He noted other instances in which family members and attorneys have been denied access to the body cam footage. Police have dismissed calls for releasing video footage of the March 7 killing of 25-year-old Kordell Jones, who was shot and killed by authorities while they were raiding a home in search of his brother.

Alabama state law does not allow for the footage’s widespread release, and the Alabama State Supreme Court, through a 2021 ruling, claimed the footage is not subject to the state’s open records law. The court’s ruling continues to allow police to deny media or public request for a host of police records, no matter the public controversy or outcry.

It’s a different scenario in Tennessee, where the state’s approach toward widespread dissemination of police-worn body camera footage earned praise earlier this year. Two cases stood out: Police body cam footage was released following the brutal killing of Tyree Nichols by five Black Memphis police officers in January, and body cam footage was released within 24 hours following the March 27 shooting at Covenant School near Nashville.

A new state law, effective on September 1, allows people whose image or voice is the subject of a body camera or dash camera recording can file a written request to review it. An attorney, parent, spouse or another designated representative can make the request.

An agency that receives the request would then have to either show the video to the person or representative or notify the requestor that it was denying the request. Law enforcement does not have to give a reason for its denial. It does say the agency can deny any request that would affect an ongoing investigation.

And the new law does not include any additional allowances for public dissemination of body cam footage.

Clopton said it’s up to the individual agencies to provide access.

“Why can’t the city just do the right thing?” he said.