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City Council requests body cam footage from all BPD ‘deadly force’ incidents from 2025, 2026

Calls for increased transparency grew after a Boston police officer fatally shot a man in Roxbury last month.

Councilor Miniard Culpepper during a City Council meeting on April 15, 2026. Lane Turner/The Boston Globe

April 15, 2026 | 4:38 PM

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The Boston City Council unanimously voted Wednesday to request a host of body-worn camera footage from incidents involving Boston Police Department officers over the last year and several months.

They are seeking all body-worn camera footage for incidents from all of 2025 through April 2026 that did not result in a criminal investigation, including incidents that resulted in injury, death, or bodily harm. Councilors are requesting footage from officer-related incidents that resulted in a settlement or civil proceedings with the city, and from incidents involving alleged misconduct that did not result in criminal charges.

The request, spearheaded by Councilor Miniard Culpepper, is part of a broader effort to demand transparency from the BPD in the wake of a fatal shooting by a Boston police officer last month.

In that incident, officer Nicholas O’Malley shot and killed Stephenson King, 39, of Dorchester. King was suspected of carjacking when police cornered him in Roxbury. O’Malley allegedly shouted “Bro, I’m gonna f***ing shoot you” at King before King tried to flee in the car. BPD Commissioner Michael Cox said after the shooting that King accelerated and struck a BPD cruiser. O’Malley allegedly told investigators that King “tried to run us over.”

Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden charged O’Malley with manslaughter, a move that prompted strong criticism from the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association.

A prosecutor argued in court that body-worn camera footage from the BPD officers established that King was “maneuvering and clearly trying to drive away, rather than run anyone over.”

O’Malley pleaded not guilty.

Culpepper and Councilor Brian Worrell have called on the BPD to release the footage of the shooting. That call has been echoed by members of King’s family, who are demanding transparency, including the release of body cam footage.

The councilors held a hearing earlier this month to examine the department’s policies for releasing body-worn camera footage. An attorney for the department told officials at the hearing that Hayden’s office has the power to release body-worn camera footage tied to a death investigation, not Cox. Hayden has said that his office would not share the footage, citing concerns that doing so could “compromise and imperil” the investigation.

Culpepper disagreed with the attorney’s argument during the hearing, which Cox did not attend. In a show of their frustrations with the lack of BPD attendance, Culpepper and Worrell filed a motion to subpoena Cox and force him to testify about body-worn camera policies.

Councilors were set to vote on that measure Wednesday, but Culpepper withdrew it. He said that he discussed the matter with Cox, who is “ready, willing, and able” to work with the council and set a time for him to testify.

The request for body-worn camera footage was made through the “17F” process, which the BPD attorney recommended councilors pursue, Culpepper said. Mayor Michelle Wu now has a week to respond.

“If the Boston Police Department’s position is that footage is not released during ongoing criminal investigations, then this council has a responsibility to examine what happens in all other cases,” Culpepper said Wednesday.

In the 17F request, councilors highlighted the shooting that killed King alongside a few other recent incidents: a fatal struggle at a Mattapan mental health facility in September 2025, a June 2025 incident where an officer allegedly used a taser on someone for longer than BPD policy dictates, a February incident in Dorchester in which an officer fired their gun but no one was struck, and a fatal shooting near Northeastern University earlier this month where officers killed a man they say was wielding a sword.

For each of those incidents, councilors are requesting body-worn camera footage, investigative materials, police reports, other available video or audio recordings, use-of-force reports, any findings from internal investigations, and information on any involvement of external investigative agencies such as Hayden’s office.

“In those cases where lives have been lost, or serious harm has occurred, the stakes are simply too high to accept a lack of transparency,” Culpepper said. “This is not about assigning conclusions, it’s about ensuring access to facts. By requesting footage, reports, and investigative materials, we are working to ensure that decisions around use of force can be reviewed, policies can be evaluated, and public trust can be strengthened.”

This story has been updated to clarify details about the City Council’s request.