Man facing possible 16 years for videotaping police

[StageLeft]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/TheLaw/videotaping-cops-arrest/story?id=11179076

I still maintain that a public servant acting in his job capacity in public should be open to get filmed, photographed, whatever always at all times except in the most unusual circumstances, like in the middle of some secret operation.

There is an ancillary lesson which is not to piss off cops and act like an ass when you're being rightfully arrested or pulled over (amazing how many adults don't realize this!), but that's not relevant to them being filmed or not.

 

[dmcowen674]

There is no such thing as "in public" all land and the air is owned by the Government.

 

[Craig234]

I am very much in favor of more videotaping by police and citizens - to get to the truth better and create more accountability that disincents wrongdoing by everyone.

One of the things a local police department - I think it's Oakland - is adding is police videocams that I've advocated for many years.

The police *punishing* the videotaping when it exposes their wrongdoing is an injustice and an outrage that should not be allowed. More often, videotaping helps them anyway.

 

[rudder]

As soon as one of these cases makes it's way to the supreme court... I bet a lot of local municipalities that prosecuted these people may get sued. The only way I would think they have a case would be where the recording equipment was concealed.... but wiretapping laws being violated... sounds iffy to me. You need to have a ""reasonable expectation of privacy"... which acting as a police officer in public does not afford.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Everyone should be recording officers until this bullshit stops - they can't arrest us all. Besides protecting ourselves, there are times when it actually protects the police, so preventing recordings would hurt them as well.

 

[waggy]

As soon as one of these cases makes it's way to the supreme court... I bet a lot of local municipalities that prosecuted these people may get sued. The only way I would think they have a case would be where the recording equipment was concealed.... but wiretapping laws being violated... sounds iffy to me. You need to have a ""reasonable expectation of privacy"... which acting as a police officer in public does not afford.

i agree. i hope one goes to the supreme court.

a person should be able to film the cops in any public place and the privacy of there own home. In fact more people should film them.

they just useing outdated laws to continue to try keep the population in fear. if you can't film them they can continue he bullshit they have done.

and people wonder why so many distrust or don't like the police?

 

[Siddhartha]

Considering the make up of the USSC, I would not be surprised if it decided in favor of outlawing video taping police. This issue will have to be dealt with politically by voting the people who made the laws out of office.

 

[Zedtom]

The experts at ambush "gotcha" type journalism have used covert devices for years to record video for their tabloid reports. What's interesting is that they rarely take on corruption investigations involving law enforcement.

Why? Because their legal departments don't want to get into unending court proceedings that run the gamut from 1st amendment rights to national security.

 

[Moonbeam]

Thank God the people of the US have the right to a well regulated militia. This nonsense will end very soon as arresting officers and convicting judges are taken out. We're not going to put up with tyranny, right?

 

[HumblePie]

My problem is that the video you record can not be used for evidence in court more and more. I had a speeding ticket a few years back where I was going to a wedding. People in the car had the camera rolling when I was pulled over. I was NOT speeding. I went to court and did a judge only trial. I didn't hire a lawyer because I thought I had overwhelming evidence with witnesses to prove my case. Brought the people with me in the car as witnesses and had the camera recording, which the judge threw out. I asked for the video the cop was suppose to have and it was "lost" and couldn't be found to use as evidence.

So it became my word, my cousin, and 1 friend against the one cop. I lost. I didn't want to pay the appeal fee of $350 which was more than the damn ticket at the time. Damn tiny hick towns with their hick judges and cops. They were just there for the money.

Anyhow, I had something similar happen a few years later, but I had no witnesses or video. I decided to do a jury trial instead of a judge only one, and called a friend who was a lawyer to at least make contact with the court. The case was dropped before it went anywhere and I didn't have to pay a dime.

Moral of the story is a few cops and judges I've ran into and read about seem to love using strong arm tactics when it suits their agenda, mood, or prerogative. However, when they are caught in the light they back track. They don't like having their dirt laundry brought to light.

Now, I have known come good cops though in my time and I will state that not everyone of them is a power tripping prick. Quite a few are though.

 

[nobodyknows]

It was on a public highway so this is just total BS and a waste of taxpayers money.

 

[nobodyknows]

Thank God the people of the US have the right to a well regulated militia. This nonsense will end very soon as arresting officers and convicting judges are taken out. We're not going to put up with tyranny, right?

Troll, troll, troll your boat.

 

[Elias824]

Dosent this work both ways, if you are being filmed by a cop cant you just say you dont consent to being filmed and they cant use it as evidence.

 

[Generator]

Shit is embarrassing for the cops. Look at this jacked upped clown getting out of a unmarked car with no uniform ready to get his gun on. The camera serves as the adult in the room between cops and civilians. Without it either party can be damaged in many ways.

 

[Svnla]

So why the police can film/record us (dashboard equipments at traffic stops) and we can not film them? What happens to "government for the people, by the people"?

 

[Amused]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2083366&highlight=

 

[child of wonder]

So wiretapping citizens without a warrant is OK because "if you're not doing anything wrong then you have nothing to hide."

But videotaping a cop in public is wiretapping because you don't have the cop's consent.

Awesome.

 

[HumblePie]

So wiretapping citizens without a warrant is OK because "if you're not doing anything wrong then you have nothing to hide."

But videotaping a cop in public is wiretapping because you don't have the cop's consent.

Awesome.

Again, no case for this has won, which is pointed out in the article. The cops threaten you, but in the end it is so far an empty threat. In a public place anyone can be video taped. While out in public you have no reasonable expectation to privacy which is the whole point of freedom of the press and free speech.

 

[child of wonder]

Again, no case for this has won, which is pointed out in the article. The cops threaten you, but in the end it is so far an empty threat. In a public place anyone can be video taped. While out in public you have no reasonable expectation to privacy which is the whole point of freedom of the press and free speech.

I agree.

But that fact that there have been no convictions is not for a lack of trying on the police's part.

 

[HumblePie]

I agree.

But that fact that there have been no convictions is not for a lack of trying on the police's part.

Yep. But I will state this, just because I believe people have a right to film anything in a public place that does not give them a right to be a nuisance or a jack-ass.

Taking a camera and standing in the way of a officer trying to do his/her job is obstructing justice and should land your ass in prison. If someone wants to film, do so by the sideline and let people with a job to do get it done.

 

[MotF Bane]

This is what becomes of big government.

 

[shira]

Again, no case for this has won, which is pointed out in the article. The cops threaten you, but in the end it is so far an empty threat. In a public place anyone can be video taped. While out in public you have no reasonable expectation to privacy which is the whole point of freedom of the press and free speech.

Yep. These anti-video harassments will end only when one of them makes its way to the SCOTUS and 5 judges pronounce that a cop on duty doesn't have an "expectation of privacy." Establishment ass-hats Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, and Alito will probably demur, but the liberals plus Kennedy will end this nonsense.

 

[shira]

This is what becomes of big government.

Right, big-government liberals are the pro-police-state crowd.

 

[Saga]

My problem is that the video you record can not be used for evidence in court more and more. I had a speeding ticket a few years back where I was going to a wedding. People in the car had the camera rolling when I was pulled over. I was NOT speeding. I went to court and did a judge only trial. I didn't hire a lawyer because I thought I had overwhelming evidence with witnesses to prove my case. Brought the people with me in the car as witnesses and had the camera recording, which the judge threw out. I asked for the video the cop was suppose to have and it was "lost" and couldn't be found to use as evidence.

So it became my word, my cousin, and 1 friend against the one cop. I lost. I didn't want to pay the appeal fee of $350 which was more than the damn ticket at the time. Damn tiny hick towns with their hick judges and cops. They were just there for the money.

Anyhow, I had something similar happen a few years later, but I had no witnesses or video. I decided to do a jury trial instead of a judge only one, and called a friend who was a lawyer to at least make contact with the court. The case was dropped before it went anywhere and I didn't have to pay a dime.

Moral of the story is a few cops and judges I've ran into and read about seem to love using strong arm tactics when it suits their agenda, mood, or prerogative. However, when they are caught in the light they back track. They don't like having their dirt laundry brought to light.

Now, I have known come good cops though in my time and I will state that not everyone of them is a power tripping prick. Quite a few are though.

The judge only cares about money. Period. They just don't give a shit. Always have a jury of your peers, at least that way you run legit odds of getting level-headed people not blinded by a desire for government funding.

 

[Moonbeam]

Troll, troll, troll your boat.

Don't blame me, blame the morons who believe their guns are going to save them from a police state. You are all being cooked like a lidless pot of live frogs, very slowly.