Pixiq

I recently had a DOT state officer tell me that filming him and filming law enforcement is a felony.I have video of the confrontation and even uploaded the video to youtube.But the DOT captain called my employer and through fear of loosing my job I was forced to remove that video.

I am calling.Everyone please call so this officer can be corrected.

Typical thug cop, thinks he owns the world and can boss around anyone in it. Eat crow, bozo!

Very good. Respectful to and hopefully educational for the cop. The best part, if he tries it again there is now evidence he is aware of the law - and lawsuits against him and the city will be easier.

I've often wondered why Law Enforcement doesn't require some type of intelligence test to become a police officer. If they did, citizens might just be spared having to deal with vapid, feckless gun toting thugs like good old Bob.

nice work!

I'm friends with several of the deputies in Palm Beach County and they all swear up and down that what this cop says is true. I tried doing research and all I can find are Florida laws saying audio can't be recorded without consent. I would love for someone to actually be able to show me where I can print something out to prove to my buddies it is legal to video tape in Florida, just in case one of these cases ever pops up a little farther north...

Maybe there is nothing explicitly allowing it? They couldn't give me the law that explicitly says I can't, so maybe it is legal because nobody made it illegal. Regardless, I would love to see someone push this issue so all the cops in South Florida know that videotaping is not a crime, either.

Well, C'mon, Johnny L, surely you can put a top spin on this. Or, should I say "Cop Spin".
How about this: " He didn't really say 'videotape' officers, he said, "escape officers"...

By the way, Carlos, there's a misprint above: "...Take him up on his officer...(sic)

Also, I am sorry to see Pixiq screwing up my posts ( I am on dialup, which is as slow as whale poop ) because they now want to cash in by making me sign up for their spam. Isn't it enough that I visit the websites of their advertisers ?

The irony is great:
Palm Beach County is the same guys who invented "COPS"--
the collusion of Law Enforcement and big Media...also
known as Fascism..

BTW
Why's the cop such a tough guy in person but
all sorry ass on the phone?

The Officer in question is wrong. Period. It makes one wonder what other felony statutes he's created in his mind, since he knows that's it's perfectly legal for him to lie to a Citizen in the course of an investigation (traffic stop).

He is also effective at intimidating the driver, who knows very well that recording the Officer in public, with the knowledge of all parties is perfectly legal. The Office implies that any further discussion could lead to the arrest of the driver. Pure official oppression.

I will arrest you for something I KNOW is not a crime, and let the system chew you up with loss of time, money, and potentially freedom.

The Dept. Of Justice should take a serious look at this "law enforcement" organization.

I'm most intringued, if the cop knew the guy was comitting a felony by recording him, why didn't he arrest him for it? A felony is a felony right? Cops don't turn down such easy pickins..

Of course we know the answer, the cop was full of it and knew it. The reason they say it is a felony is to scare people into compliance.

Thought the guy in the video did pretty good..

I just read the majority of Kelly v. Borough of Carlisle, 622 F.3d 248 (3d Cir. 2010).

There is absolutely _no_ accountability for police officers.

The city and officer were sued for arresting a passenger of a traffic stop under wiretapping laws (he was filming the officer conducting the stop). As clearly covered earlier on this blog, the appeals court found recording police a 1st amendment right; however, they also found that the officer was covered under "qualified immunity" because it wasn't a "clearly established right".

Do you know why it wasn't clearly established in 2009/2010, and continues to not be clearly established today? Because officers continue to convince themselves it's illegal in spite of all of this case law.

Nice scheme they have going. Keep singing "na na na" after every court case and you're still covered under qualified immunity.

Bottom line is that police can continue to arrest people for video taping them. The victim will pay attorney's fees, bond, get fired from work, etc. even though the case will be dropped. You will not be able to sue the police.

An officer in this ignorant "pigs" capacity is moving as a "PUBLIC" entity, thereby making him available for every form of public interaction. If not, and if they persist in their delusions that they cannot be video taped or recorded, they must be acting in their "PRIVATE" capacity, and thereby cannot perform ANY public duty which the public has hired them to do... DHU!!! Simply ask them if they are acting in their public or private capacity...

double post

The legal standard is "reasonable expectation of privacy". Even if Florida did outlaw it , the law would be void for being unconstitutional.

Your remedy against the police/judges/DA's is never in the statutes. It is in tort law. You prosecute them as you would any there private person.

Interesting discussion and became "personal" to me last me. I have an Ohio Concealed Handgun License and on various forums people strongly advise you to have some type of voice recorder. Reason being, the ORC states that IF YOU ARE CARRYING you must notify the officer in a reasonable time frame. But what is that? Often his word against yours and you can be fined and license revoked for not complying "soon enough".

Long story short I had been considering a Flip cam to use as a dash cam in my company truck to record my driving during bad weather, etc, or when someone cuts me off or runs a red light. Lo and behold last week I am pulled over for "failing to signal my lane change. I happened to have my flip cam on and turned it to face the driver's window when the officer approached. Here is a portion of that encounter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWLxPC6YKlA The officer falsely accused me of breaking the law in failing to notify.

Now this is a bit off-topic, but while I respect MOST cops and sympathetize with all the crap they have to deal with; TRUTH is TRUTH. If you want to be a police officer, then accept the fact that you will be dealing with the public. Many of them will be rude and abrasive and some outright dangerous. Still when routine dealing with the public YOU ARE TRAINED in how to do so. The police officer should not fear his actions (or inactions) from being recorded. Be polite and respectful to your "customers" just as most of us in the real world are required to do.

My situation is obviously different than the Florida case, since it is legal to record police in Ohio. However I think my video shows that our right to record can protect us (just as the dash cam protects the police officer) If you saw the rest of the video, you would see that the officer was rude and condescending throughout and in the case of failure to notify DOWNRIGHT WRONG. If you are behaving yourself properly what is there to fear from being recorded?

Under United States District Court Trenton, New Jersey Case #87-904(CSF) heard by Honorable Senior Court Judge Clarkson S. Fisher Nadin vs. Township of Maple Shade

The Judge said that it was permissible for the plaintiff to record his conversations, and telephone without the knowledge of the other parties.

Nadin won that case in 1990.

The Judge also reinstated the plaintiff to his current title of Police Detective. The Judge commented that he was still a police office without a Department. The Criminal Justice Department issued a letter saying the the plaintiff had no break in his service.