*Nearly four months after Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash, a California lawmaker has propose a bill that would make it illegal for first responders to share sensitive and unauthorized photos from crime scenes.
Assemblymember Mike Gipson introduced the legislation, titled “Invasion of Privacy: First Responders,” after it was reported that Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies shared photos of Kobe’s crash site with colleagues.
The Sheriff’s Dept. reportedly tried to keep the photo scandal under wraps, until reporters from the Los Angeles Times exposed the cover-up.
Via TMZ:
Deputies who responded to Kobe Bryant’s helicopter crash site and took pictures of the remains were given a secret way out without repercussion.
We’re told a message was relayed.. if you got Kobe pics — come in, come clean and delete them. Do that, and you won’t be punished.
Sources say this attempt to get rid of the damning evidence was all being done on the hush-hush, and it was only when the L.A. Times came around asking about this scandal that the department launched a formal inquiry.
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“Our first responders, when responding to an emergency, should not be taking very sensitive photographs … for their own gain, for their own pleasure,” Gipson said. “It was unconscionable. It’s not right.” https://t.co/g0cs2OnfuI
— Asm. Mike A. Gipson (@AsmMikeGipson) May 6, 2020
Kobe’s wife, Vanessa Bryant, also shared the following message on her Instagram page back in March:
We are demanding that those responsible for these alleged actions face the harshest possible discipline, and that their identities be brought to light, to ensure that the photos are not further disseminated. We are requesting an Internal Affairs investigation of these alleged incidents.
In a statement, Vanessa’s attorney, Gary Robb, described the release of the photos as an “unspeakable violation of human decency.”
If the bill becomes law, it would be misdemeanor first responders such as state police officers, paramedics, firefighters, and coroners to take images of a deceased person “for any purpose other than an official law enforcement purpose, or for a genuine public interest,” the bill reads, Complex reports.
Breaking the policy is punishable by a maximum of one year in jail and a $5,000 fine.
“Our first responders, when responding to an emergency, should not be taking very sensitive photographs … for their own gain, for their own pleasure,” Gipson said. “It was unconscionable. It’s not right.”
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