Federal law opens twelve doors into your medical chart without your signature, hands police six separate routes to your information, and New Hampshire law orders the hospital to report you in a half dozen more situations; here is the whole map.
New Hampshire requires 1,500 hours to license a cosmetologist while only about 740 hours are needed to certify a police officer. This disparity raises concerns about the hiring standards for police, which currently prioritize a clean record over relevant experience and education. Proposed changes seek to rectify these issues.
New Hampshire’s police body camera law, enacted in 2016, does not mandate camera use, allowing departments to decide. A bill to open footage to the public, HB 1587, was shelved without debate. Currently, most recordings are exempt from disclosure and must be deleted after 180 days, limiting accountability and transparency.
The Attorney General found the Manchester and Charlestown police shootings legally justified; in one case the reasoning is public, in the other it stays sealed until the man who was shot is done being prosecuted, and the state’s police transparency list still cannot print a Lisbon officer’s name.
