Who Decides if Videotaping Police is Illegal?

[bainsidhe]

The story keeps getting better. There was a community meeting in support of Emily Good, the woman arrested. Shortly after the meeting began, four police cruisers showed up and began ticketing cars. Officers used rulers to determine which cars were parked more than 12" from the curb. Four officers ticketed a total of 4-5 vehicles, including one that was positioned 12-1/2" from the curb. Now think on that a moment. How small is 12 inches? I know I rarely park that close unless I'm actually touching or on top of the curb. Parallel parking is a bitch. Obviously people are crying foul and accusing police of retaliating against them for supporting Emily Good.

Article and video:
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/...4016/1002/NEWS

[Andara Bledin]

Wow. So there was so little crime going on during that time that they could spare four manned vehicles to go harass a bunch of people who already think they're behaving like pigs?

Article at WHEC

One of those ticketed says that he was told they were responding to "citizen complaints about how the cars were parked." Rochester Police Union President Mike Mazzeo said, "City police officers write ticket every night after parking enforcement officers leave for the day. And if there's a parking infraction they come across in their patrol areas, they will write those violations. That's part of their job." Except that this wasn't at night, it was during the day. And they didn't "come across" any violations, there were "complaints." Plus, from the previous article linked, it was stated by Officer Patrick Piano that the chief did not send the officers, so if they were there based on complaints but the chief didn't send anyone out, then who did? And why did they send full officers when parking enforcement should have still been on duty?

The whole thing stinks like the steaming pile of bullshit it is.

^-.-^

[DrFaroohk]

I think they should establish that it's routine for them to measure by making those four officers cover the entire city for a few days, and measure every last car they come across.

[Greenday]

The story keeps getting better. There was a community meeting in support of Emily Good, the woman arrested. Shortly after the meeting began, four police cruisers showed up and began ticketing cars. Officers used rulers to determine which cars were parked more than 12" from the curb. Four officers ticketed a total of 4-5 vehicles, including one that was positioned 12-1/2" from the curb. Now think on that a moment. How small is 12 inches? I know I rarely park that close unless I'm actually touching or on top of the curb. Parallel parking is a bitch. Obviously people are crying foul and accusing police of retaliating against them for supporting Emily Good.

Article and video:
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/...4016/1002/NEWS

The cops used to come to my high school once a week and do that to people. It was ridiculous. Especially when people parked where there was no curb.

[bainsidhe]

Yesterday the charges were dismissed and today *gasp* an article explaining that Emily Good intends to sue. *faints* Though to be honest, I'd want to do the same. They arrested a barefoot, pajama-wearing and i-phone-wielding citizen that was peacefully filming a traffic stop from her own property. I'm just disappointed no public official ever says anything negative about the arrest beyond stating they've started an internal investigation. Call it a training issue, call it a fuck up. Hell, say the officer, right or wrong, honestly felt uneasy about Ms. Good's presence. Stop pretending like it never happened.

http://www.fratching.com/search.php?searchid=317291

[draco664]

Honestly, who here would like to be followed around and filmed all day by someone waiting to watch them screw up?

Well, lots of governments have been putting up so many CCTV cameras around their cities that you can hardly travel around without being constantly in view of one. So why is it that it's okay to film a citizen in public, but not a cop?

[Shangri-laschild]

In situations like this, it should be legal to resist arrest and assault the officer. I think it would remind cops they're not above the law if they knew they pulling bullcrap like that will get their asses beat.

Just something to think about, but people attacking police is probably why at least some of them are more hardass than they would be otherwise so I'm not really sure that that idea would have the effect you think it would. Also, I'm all for people defending their rights but there is a difference between resisting and beating someone's ass.

In this case, the man being cuffed was at the back of the police car

It looked to me like they handcuffed him behind his car and then put him in the back seat of the police car which is actually fairly normal. This way they don't have to worry about him while searching the vehicle.

Shortly after the meeting began, four police cruisers showed up and began ticketing cars.

I've got to say, definitely a crappy move...

I think they should establish that it's routine for them to measure by making those four officers cover the entire city for a few days, and measure every last car they come across.

And then everyone will be up in arms about them wasting the tax payers money with something like that. Not to mention that doesn't so much establish that it's routine really.


I'm not saying that I don't see a lot of reasons why people should be allowed to video tape officers but right now it is illegal. Just doing it anyway isn't the way to get the law overturned or to make things right.

[Andara Bledin]

I'm not saying that I don't see a lot of reasons why people should be allowed to video tape officers but right now it is illegal. Just doing it anyway isn't the way to get the law overturned or to make things right.

Two points:

First, as far as I know, no place has succeeded in making it illegal, though not necessarily for lack of trying.

Second, breaking the law is one of the ways to get it to an official Constitutional challenge. It's actually a tried and true method of civil disobedience for the sake of reform.

^-.-^

[Shangri-laschild]

Two points:

First, as far as I know, no place has succeeded in making it illegal, though not necessarily for lack of trying.

Ah was understanding that wrong then

Second, breaking the law is one of the ways to get it to an official Constitutional challenge. It's actually a tried and true method of civil disobedience for the sake of reform.

^-.-^

To some extent yes. Let me clarify, small cases of this, unless they get picked up by a bigger group to be fought or are fought in the courts enough do not tend to change anything as far as I've seen.

[Andara Bledin]

But any case can go viral. Take this one as an example.

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[Jester]

Well, that's the whole point of the dashcams on cop cars. Protects people being pulled over and it protects the police too.

And there have been many cases of cops not turning on their dashcams, erasing the recordings from their dashcams, or asking their fellow officers to do the same. Hell, a case involving just that happened here in little old Key West. You can't tell me the same doesn't go on elsewhere, especially in larger cities with larger police forces.

But when you are constantly messing with the police by following them around and video taping them, you are messing with their job.

If a citizen is not interfering in the officers' duties, but merely videotaping them, there is exactly nothing illegal about it, period. And considering this woman was videotaping them from her front yard and was not in any way interfering with the arrest or traffic stop, I fail to see what the problem was for the officers, other than the possibility that they didn't want to look bad.

If the people think cops aren't doing their jobs correctly, then hire people to watch them professionally. If people are going to harass the police while they do their job, it might as well be professionals.

Police are public servants. Not to say we can tell them what to do or anything, like some people think that means, but we are well within our rights, as established by numerous court cases, to film or videotape them while they perform their duties as long as we do not interfere with those duties. There is actually quite a bit of legal precedent for this.

The story keeps getting better. There was a community meeting in support of Emily Good, the woman arrested. Shortly after the meeting began, four police cruisers showed up and began ticketing cars.

Shocking. Well, no, not really. Sadly, this is just about what I would expect. And what many people expect. While the vast majority of police officers are good, hardworking men and women, the bad apples have left a bitterly bad taste in the mouths of many, many people.

Obviously people are crying foul and accusing police of retaliating against them for supporting Emily Good.

Gee, ya think?

I'm not saying that I don't see a lot of reasons why people should be allowed to video tape officers but right now it is illegal.

No. No it isn't. Interfering with police officers doing their jobs and performing their duties IS illegal, which is why the cops who didn't want to be videotaped tried to make it out that Ms. Good was doing just that. I have yet to understand how a woman recording from her front yard without coming near the actual traffic stop, other than it being right in front of her front yard, is in any way interfering with the police officers' ability to perform their duties.

In short, it's a load of bullshit, as others have correctly said.

[insertNameHere]

I was browsing another news site and stumbled across this link.
http://www.alternet.org/story/151806...ty?page=entire

Basically, it mentions that in IL it is ILLEGAL to record a police officer because they have included it in the wiretapping laws. And people are facing felony charges for breaking that law, kind of ridiculous to be standing in your own garage taping an incident and have the cops come up confiscate your camera and arrest you after attacking someone and you face more serious charges

[DrFaroohk]

It's easier to arrest the people with cameras. That drug dealer over there? He's got a gun, and lots of friends around. and he's huge. Who wants to arrest him? He might fight back, his friends get involved, etc...big huge shebang. Then one of them pulls a gun and the cop maces him, and now he gets sued for excessive force, and then blah blah lots of crap.

Or just make trouble for this guy with a camera. Looks good on paperwork cuz I appear busy, and this guy probably won't fight as much, and he probably doesn't have the money for a good lawyer the way the drug dealer does. Yay camera guy!

[PepperElf]

interesting video... mainly because it reminds me of one I saw where a man went out in public TO the police to videotape the ticket.

The man's girlfriend called him cos the cops were giving her a ticket. He shows up with the video camera and is open carrying. Keep in mind, in his state, neither action is illegal, and when the cops ask him to move away he does, although he keeps the camera on scene.


In his case the cops actually tracked him down AFTERWARDS to question him and demand his ID card, claiming "police officer safety" as why he couldn't approach them open carrying - even though it wasn't illegal. He refused and asked them if it's a legal requirement. They hemmed and hawed but in the end they .... well they kinda let him go. Or rather he pointed out that they weren't arresting him and that he was therefore free to go and walked away... still recording.

[jackfaire]

It's called obstruction of justice. And yes, it's been illegal for years.

That's like when in Law and order people are told "If you don't answer our questions and rat out your friend you can be arrested on obstruction of justice" when uhm no actually you can't.

Lying to the police and saying the guy they chased went left when he went right is obstruction of justice refusing to say where the guy went is not.