Rep. Rick Kriseman says dash cam video showing officers' shooting shouldn't be made public

TAMPA, Fla. - Dash cam video of Officers David Curtis and Jeffrey Kocab , depicting the brutal night that ended in their deaths, will not be released to the public even though it is set to become evidence in Dontae Morris' trial.

That runs counter to what's typically required under Florida's Sunshine Law, but one state legislator he understands why.

"Is this newsworthy or is this merely just sensational and we're putting it out there?" Rep. Rick Kriseman asked.

Representative Kriseman voted down a bill last year that would have privatized 911 calls.

He feels keeping them public prevents potential abuse or misconduct, but he sees Curtis and Kocab's dash cam video differently.  "Does it rise to that level where it's important that the public see it?"

In this case, Rep. Kriseman doesn't think so. Though public figures are often held to higher standards, he says the officers aren't really public figures in the same sense.

"These officers who lost their lives, they didn't really become public figures until that happened," Rep. Kriseman said. "Nobody knew who they were other than their families and friends and people who worked with them."

Representative Kriseman says each case should be handled individually, and despite the publicity of this case, no one we spoke to felt entitled to this particular evidence.

"I don't feel that we should subject the families to looking at it whatsoever," Tampa resident Iris Reddick said.

"What's the purpose it's going to serve to show that video and rehash what happened? Really I think it's going to hurt the families of the police officers more than anything else," Pinellas County resident Michael Carlisle added.