Why aren't the police equipped with recording devices that are active whenever they are interacting with the public? It seems that anyone with that sort of power should have an audit trail for their actions.
Not to burst anyone's bubbles, but just because the DoJ has issued a letter stating that they believe this is constitutional does not make it so. There are opinions, I believe, from the First and Seventh Circuits that state explicitly that this is the case, but, probably until there is a definitive decision from the US Supreme Court or the like, or of an appellate court in a given state, local police could still try to arrest you for recording them, and the police may be able to make a colorable argument that that is valid. It's not inconceivable, depending on the jurisdiction, that a court could decide in police's favor were someone to sue in a situation like that.
I've actually been arrested once for recording a police officer, I went up to her with my cellphone in hand when she was questioning my intoxicated friend on my college campus. She snatched my phone away from me and said I was prohibiting her from doing her job, and so I was taken in with my friend. Looks like i'll be fighting this one. Never thought HN would be a good source for legal advice ;)
Just copied this to my smartphone so I have it on hand.<p>For years I've been in the habit of just hanging around for a bit if I come across cops when they're dealing with citizens. I encourage everybody to try it from time to time. Worst case, you learn something. Best case, you subtly remind the police who they work for: their fellow citizens.
The quality of this memo truly reflects the appropriate attitude of DoJ in regards to First (Speech), Fourth (Search), and Fourteenth (Due Process) Amendment rights.<p>> E.g. "Officers should be advised not
to threaten, intimidate, or otherwise discourage an individual from recording police officer
enforcement activities or intentionally block or obstruct cameras or recording devices."
Here is a case from my state of Maryland where a motorcyclist was charged with recording a police man without the officer's permission; it was very upsetting to me when in happened two years ago:<p><a href="http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/blog/2010/05/state_police_charge_motorcycli.html" rel="nofollow">http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/blog/2010/05/stat...</a>
The Fullerton case would have been buried without the recordings - here is reason.tv's latest video <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2012/05/16/outraged-fullerton-citizens-react-to-kel" rel="nofollow">http://reason.com/blog/2012/05/16/outraged-fullerton-citizen...</a>
link to actual letter published: <a href="http://www.pixiq.com/sites/default/files/united_states_letter_re_photography_5_14_2012_0.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.pixiq.com/sites/default/files/united_states_lette...</a>
Occupy Cal. Thank god someone recorded this and I hope the police get fired.<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_f06VQOkI4" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_f06VQOkI4</a>
I assigned the bit.ly link <a href="http://bit.ly/filmpolice" rel="nofollow">http://bit.ly/filmpolice</a> to this pdf, so that you can call it up on your phone if you needed it at the police station, etc.
Has anyone done a decently researched bust card website/app for smartphones that covers different laws for different worldwide jurisdictions yet?<p>I am sure that this could be funded by contextually advertising lawyers selected for their qualifications in each area, so that you can get their services with a button.<p>Also, have an off-phone media recording service to lots of different territories so as to preserve evidence. Very difficult to destroy evidence that is being recorded globally.<p>And if you want to make it nice and fluffy, you make sure that it is independent of the lawyers/sponsors and can kick them off and replace them if they are crap.