The Tucson City Council on Tuesday took the first step toward repealing a controversial new ordinance that critics say could prevent members of the public from recording police.
The council had sought public input in recent weeks on the ordinance, 11746, after facing heavy backlash, including from rapper Ice Cube, who felt the ordinance was passed with limited public feedback and was overly broad in its effort to curtail some members of the publics' interference at a crime scene.
During Tuesday's meeting, the council approved a motion to delay the implementation of the ordinance until October 1. That was a procedural move required before the council can outright repeal it because of how the agenda item had been scheduled, according to city attorney Mike Rankin.
Several members of the council expressed their desire to repeal the ordinance, acknowledging the lack of community engagement when the ordinance was passed in April and the feedback they received both privately and in an online submission form since a number of viral social media postings brought attention to the city's ordinance.
A motion to repeal had not been placed on the agenda for next week's council meeting, as of Wednesday morning.
"At the time this ordinance was adopted, we felt that there was community engagement with all of the incidents and what is happening throughout the country in terms of the issue," Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said. "I feel that is important that we repeal and if there is continued dialogue and conversation and engagement with the community that leaves us to relook at an ordinance such as this, then that would be good."
The ordinance was passed unanimously during an April council meeting in response to a nationwide trend where people show up at crime scenes to record police, looking to create conflicts they can post online for profit. The council pointed to a video of a female Tucson Police officer who was subject to an X-rated tirade from a so-called "first amendment auditor."
The lone dissenting vote was Councilman Steve Kozachik, who acknowledged the concerns regarding the lack of input, but that he's in support of delaying it as opposed to repealing it.
"None of our employees should have to go to work and be subjected to that," he said.
