Albert Lea officer shared non-public body cam footage on Snapchat: Charges
ALBERT LEA, Minn. (FOX 9) - A former Albert Lea police officer is accused of using Snapchat to send restricted body camera footage and law enforcement data to his wife, according to charges filed in Freeborn County Court.
Charges filed against Albert Lea officer
What we know:
Jacob Lawrence Gibson, 35 of Albert Lea, is facing a misdemeanor charge after investigators say he used Snapchat to send non-public body camera footage and restricted law enforcement data to his wife on multiple occasions.
Gibson is charged with willfully violating the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. According to the complaint, Gibson allegedly shared recordings and photographs from his agency's portable recording system — data that was not public and could only be shared with another law enforcement agency, a governmental entity or a federal agency under specific legal standards.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail, a $1,000 fine or both, according to court documents.
How the investigation unfolded
The backstory:
The complaint states the case began on April 24, 2026, when Detective Christian Berg of the Owatonna Police Department was assigned to investigate a conflict case involving Gibson. Investigators learned Gibson had been using Snapchat to post and send body camera videos and photographs to someone outside of law enforcement.
A pattern of alleged disclosures
Timeline:
The complaint states on July 24, 2025, Gibson allegedly sent a video showing him and another officer entering an apartment and using force on a subject. Gibson appears to be the officer who deployed a taser on the male, whose face is fully visible in the footage. The video was sent to a Snapchat account identified as belonging to the officer's wife. The subject in that case had been identified and charged, and the data was non-public at the time Gibson shared it.
The complaint states the next day, Gibson allegedly sent his wife a photograph of a Computer Aided Dispatch screen showing unit positions on a map — also non-public data.
The complaint states on Aug. 21, 2025, Gibson allegedly sent another photograph of a CAD screen showing a mental health call. While the address and details about the subject were redacted, Gibson added the words "Albert Lea at its finest" to the image before sending it to his wife. That data was also non-public.
The complaint states on Dec. 6, 2025, Gibson allegedly sent a video showing a man inside the Albert Lea Police Department's law enforcement center, standing in an enclosed stairwell. The man's face is fully visible in the footage. The video shows Gibson pushing the man against the enclosure and placing him under arrest. That data was also non-public.
The Source: Criminal charges filed in Freeborn County Court.