Citizens taking video of police increasingly finding themselves facing arrest themselves

[Liberal_in_LA]

Smartphones are making it easier than ever for people to record police encounters with the public, providing evidence of beatings and shootings that wouldn't have existed otherwise.

But some police departments are responding to the scrutiny by arresting citizen videographers on such charges as obstruction or interfering with a crime scene. And even though recording police is protected by the First Amendment, civil libertarians say such arrests are only becoming more frequent.


New York's ACLU has been fighting back with an app that automatically uploads citizen videos to a central server, preserving them even if the smartphone is seized.

And California Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed a "Right to Record Act" that specifically declares people may not be prevented from recording the police.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/08/29/citizens-taking-video-police-increasingly-finding-themselves-facing-arrest/

[HassleCat]

1. I don't understand

Years ago, I worked for the US Forest Service and did law enforcement duty when protestors showed up at timber sales. All of us understood the protestors could make video tapes of us if they wanted to. What is wrong with these cops?

[Rex]

2. I read someone type it the other day 'little brother is now spying on big brother' and it has

the paranoid authoritarians shitting their pants with rage. How dare WE film THEM! It all plays into the 'can do no wrong' garbage we get fed from law enforcement.

[Hula Popper]

3. Support needed here

http://photographyisnotacrime.com/