Police Department Withholding Body Cam Footage

To keep things simple, I'm trying to obtain body camera video and audio from an arrest. I contacted the specific police department's records unit. The man on the phone told me they don't honor public records requests for body camera footage and that I would need to contact a lawyer and subpoena them for the footage. Is this legal?
I was under the impression body cam footage is public information that can be requestion through a public records act request. Also, how would I go about doing a public records request specifically for body cam footage from a police department because I am unable to find any information online as to how it would be done in CA.
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