Amid an ambitious June 2 board meeting, Cambria village trustees voted unanimously not to release bodycam footage from an Oct. 16 incident at the center of months of controversy.

The bodycam footage was under question because of an incident involving Cambria Police Chief Phillip Boss.

Boss responded to a call regarding a woman who was naked in her neighbor’s vehicle, according to Williamson County Sheriff’s Office records. Craig Ward, the woman’s neighbor, said in a Facebook comment on the Daily Egyptian’s original story that he had sent a photo of the woman to Boss during the incident out of concern for her.

The woman in the photograph died by suicide on Dec. 12, 2025, in an unrelated incident.

The DE previously reported that the police chief admitted he shared a photograph with other people and that he shouldn’t have done it, according to village records. 

“I think I know what this is about and it’s about the photograph and I realize I shouldn’t have shown it to the others,” the chief told the village board, according to minutes from its Jan. 6 meeting.

In late April, ISP confirmed an investigation of “an allegation” involving Boss. 

Because of the nature of the allegations that the photo was shared later with village employees, it is unclear whether the bodycam footage of the Oct. 16 incident would shed any light on whether Boss shared the photograph.

“A community member requested this item for us to release this,” Village President William Lo said, introducing the agenda item.

Trustee Marshall Brown said he would not vote to release the bodycam footage.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with the allegation,” Brown said.

Brown said to his knowledge, the family of the subject had not seen the bodycam footage. 

Members of the public who attended the June 2 meeting suggested the bodycam footage could be blurred or released as audio only as a compromise for the deceased woman’s privacy and the goal of transparency.

Trustee Suzzette Coffey said that the bodycam footage would show Boss responding to the call on Oct. 16, 2025, but not him sharing the photograph, which she claimed happened after the call. 

“The incident that is in question did not happen at the incident; it’s what happened after the incident,” Coffey said. “So, releasing the bodycam has absolutely no use at all except exploiting this lady.” 

Boss said the village board does not have the sole authority to release the footage. 

“That’s just you guys deciding not to release it. You guys aren’t the only ones who have authority,” Boss said.

Brown asked Boss, who also has the authority to release the bodycam footage.

“I believe, according to the law, if it helps with transparency, the police chief does,” Boss said. 

Bodycam footage is usually not subject to the Freedom of Information Act unless flagged from a filed complaint, discharge of a firearm, use of force, arrest or detention or death and bodily harm. The footage is subject to be disclosed, flagged, or unflagged to the officer or the officer’s legal representation, according to the Illinois General Assembly and the Public Access Counselor.

The vote to decline releasing the footage was unanimous among those present; Trustee Robbie Chitwood was absent.

DE closes FOIA request for review

The DE on June 1 resolved a Freedom of Information Act Request for Review it had filed with the Office of the Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor. The DE on March 19 had asked the bureau to review responses to several FOIA requests sent to the Village of Cambria in February and March. While the village maintained it had no responsive records, a village employee provided a Cambria Police Department case log that the newspaper believed would have been responsive to its requests.

The attorney assigned to the matter contacted the village seeking a detailed description of the efforts the village took to search for the records.

The village sent a letter on April 21 regarding “the status of the requested information and why it was not previously produced.”

In the letter addressed to the bureau, Boss wrote that the photograph referenced in the DE’s FOIA requests was sent “to a department-issued phone” and that the photo was removed from the device.

Responsive correspondence to the DE’s FOIAs was also provided on May 22, as well as affidavits from village trustees who said they had no responsive correspondence. 

Staff Reporter Brayden Guy can be reached at [email protected]

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