I believe as citizens it is our duty to film police. It doesn’t really matter much as police in America are pretty much given a license to do whatever they will, regardless of the evidence against them, but for future reference…
Photography is a simple and very basic right and, believe it or not, whether you want to film a ship or a cop, it is not a crime. Amazingly enough. (Though I would check your local laws just to make sure they aren’t lurking about-)
Surely one day soon it will be a crime, sadly, since the people of America and the UK seem to be more interested in Football (soccer and American football) than NSA files and police brutality, but as of now, it is not a crime. However, a plain clothed sergeant with the Boston Police Department apparently isn’t aware of this. This is wrong, right along with the officer physically confronting the man with the video camera, threatening to arrest him under felony chargers…oddly enough as the cop was pushing the man backwards.
“You touch me again and I will lock you up for assault and battery on a police officer,” Boston Police sergeant demanded.
Please watch the video and note whom is touching whom. The plain clothed cop stated to the man with the camera he needed to leave as an investigation was under way. Oddly enough, a shirtless jogger had been jogging through the “investigation area” multiple times traffic and life for everyone else went on as usual.
From here, I’m going to paste over an article from http://www.photographyisnotacrime.com as it has links and more resources regarding this incident.
Once across the street, the sergeant yelled at Kelly that the suspects did not want to be recorded, according to an interview he did with Massachusetts Cop Block, which happens to be another common tactic used by police to prevent citizens from recording.
The sergeant’s behavior is especially arrogant considering the landmark Glik decision not only confirmed citizens have the right to record cops in public, but led to the Boston Police Department dishing out $170,000 in a settlement.
That same year, the Boston Police Department also dished out $33,000 to Maury Paulino in a settlement after he was arrested for video recording them in public.
But perhaps the sergeant figured he could get away with it by simply telling the citizen to record all he wants as long as he doesn’t record in their presence, which incidentally, is another double-speak tactic we’ve been seeing lately.
I guess the appropriate response is to tell the cops, “I’m not recording,” while sticking the camera in their face.
Call the Boston Police Department at (617) 343-4633
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